THE Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) on Sunday said the Federal Government (FG) failed to deliver N100 billion subsidy to electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
This was even as it raised concerns over recent ‘restructuring’ of the five electricity distribution companies (DisCos), as announced by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on July 5, in collaboration with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
In a statement issued by its Director, Research and Advocacy, Sunday Oduntan, it described the “restructuring” as inconsistent with all the guidelines and processes necessary to comply with the framework of privatisation agreements and the rule of law.
“We believe that it is reasonable to conclude that the resultant outcome has been an expropriation or backdoor renationalisation of the DisCos by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).
“Such renationalisation or expropriation must be viewed through a historical context as necessary for a proper understanding of the performance challenges that the DisCos have been faced with since privatization,” the statement added.
It said apart from flawed privatisation, the government among others, also committed to and failed to deliver on; DisCos’ debt-free financial books; Payment of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) electricity debts; Implementation of a cost reflective electricity tariff which led to accrued significant debt and liabilities on the DisCos’ financial books, as they continued to sell electricity below the cost price).
“These commitments have remained largely unmet over the post-privatisation period and have belatedly been partially addressed – too late to rectify current performance challenges.
“While the DisCos are not exonerated from responsibility for performance failures, it would be unrealistic to reach related conclusions without taking into consideration the factors that have been listed previously, as well as the FGN’s contributions to these challenges,” it noted.
However, it warned the expropriation or renationalisation of the DisCos will not change the current bleak situation or outlook of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
