Ugo Nosiri, Owerri
Non-availability of viable utilities and customer numbers has been said to be one of the reasons for the failure of electricity privatisation in Nigeria.
The former chairman Nigerian Electrical Regulatory Commission NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, disclosed this while speaking on the topic, “New Electricity Tariffs and the Power Crisis in Nigeria,” at the April edition of the Ikengaonline monthly Townhall meeting.
Dr Amadi while noting that most DISCOs do not have their customer numbers pointed out that most collapses happen because of frailty in transmission from lack of SCADA system.
He maintained that disequilibrium in the coordination of generation and distribution of electricity is also a reason for electricity feeder collapses.
Dr Amadi who is also the Director, Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, pointed out that the Federal Government would have focused on strengthening policy management, improving regulations and corporate governance, before privatising the electricity sector.
He stressed that if the project management capability was improved, the country could have had up to fifteen thousand available megawatts of deliverable power which would afford the citizens a minimum of ten hours of affordable and reliable power.
The former NERC chairman said that the minimum for unbundling the sector is a topnotch communication to synchronize power, schedule power, deliver power and ensure the balancing happens and the DISCOs know how much they receive.
“Once you unbundle, the first crisis is coordination.”
“When you unbundle, you have to improve coordination, through technology and good project management, Nigeria made a mistake by rushing into privatisation,” he said.
