Investors in the power sector yesterday requested the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, to urgently convene a meeting of the electricity distribution chain to enable them brainstorm on how to move the sector forward.
The investors, who met with newsmen in Abuja to state their side of story on the wobbling and declining state of power supply in the country, however, painted a gloomy picture of disaster waiting to hit the nation’s electricity supply system in the nearest future, if certain measures were not taken.
In fact, the investors said they were now ready to quit if their funds were made available to them by the federal government.
For example, Alhaji Tukur Modibbo, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Jos Electricity Distribution Company, JEDCO, while speaking at the crowded media parley, agreed to sell the power assets he bought at $82 million five years ago for $72 million.
He said: “I paid $82 million to acquire the power assets but I am ready to sell the power assets for $72milion to whoever wants to buy it. We are ready to give a discount of $10 million.”
Modibbo, who insisted that Fashola should convene the stakeholders’ meeting, said the Distribution Companies, DISCOs, had been sidelined in the scheme of things in the power sector.
He said: “We have been relegated to the background of the issues affecting the power sector value chain. We want the minister to call us together and ask us why we are not investing in the distribution infrastructure.
“Blaming the electricity distribution companies alone cannot solve the many of problems in the sector. We have been relegated to the background and that is why we are calling on the minister to meet with us so that we can give our own version of the story.”
Source Vangard
