NGO says PHCN successor coys have failed · Tasks Buhari to probe them

EMEKA IBEMERE

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Good Governance Initiative (GGI), dedicated to achieving sustainable energy in Nigeria, has unequivocally scored the power sector low for the past 16-years pointing at corruption as the bane of poor electricity supply in the country.

The group is, however, optimistic that the incoming President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress, will correct the anomalies in the sector and make electricity constant for improvement of social infrastructure, development and attract foreign investments to the Nigerian economy. 

Festus Mbisiogu, founder and president of Good Governance Initiative, speaking on the state of electricity power in Nigeria during a media chat with journalists recently, highlighted the troubles associated with poor electricity supply in the country.

He said, “Let me start by refreshing our minds to the recent tragedy that befell one of your colleagues. As you are aware, a celebrated journalist and publisher of Bravo Weekly, Dada Eriye, recently died after suffering severe burns from a generator accident in his house.

“Before this, a man, his wife and three children were killed by generator fumes in the Ipoyewa community, Adamo area of Ikorodu, Lagos. It is unimaginable that at this time in the history of our great country, we are losing some of our brightest of our generation to avoidable accidents such as this.   

According to Mbisiogu, stories abound of sully stories of tragic events in the energy sector occasioned by generator- induced deaths because of unavailability of electricity. The group said it was because of the urgent tragic situation in the power sector and in providing the organization’s social responsibility that GGI have decided to champion the cause of steady power supply in the country.

 “It is the urge to avoid such tragic incidents that I decided to champion the cause of steady power supply in the country three years ago when I formed Good Governance Initiative (GGI) a Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to achieving sustainable energy in Nigeria,” Mbisiogu said.

As an advocacy group trying to influence the policies and direction of governments as it concerns electricity, the group has volunteered to work with other stakeholders in this regard as well as educating Nigerians on how to manage the prevailing energy situation in the country.

The group, however, praised the out-going government of President Goodluck Jonathan’s Power Sector Reform Roadmap which he started last two years, but frowned at the stakeholders for lack of effective and efficient running of the reform.

 “In August to September 2013, when the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was completed and 10 Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and five Generation Companies (GENCOs) effectively took over the defunct PHCN, some of us heaved a sigh of relief.

“It was very thoughtful on the part of President Jonathan who heeded the cries of many of us in unbundling the PHCN which had been bogged down by officialdom, bureaucracy, and inefficiency. We regarded the development as a great milestone in the Power Sector Reform Roadmap that should give hope to all Nigerians, and inspire confidence in government’s power reform programme and President Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda,” he said.

However, Mbisiogu said almost two years down the line and looking back, that there were no indications of any remarkable improvement from those who took over the PHCN and said they failed to live up to the expectations of the power sector reform roadmap.

“Can we really say we have made any remarkable improvement? May be yes, regarding the takeover by investors, but in terms of service delivery and efficiency, we are still lagging behind. It is evident, that the beneficiaries of this new paradigm in the energy sector are the government and the investors whose interests are being protected. The interests of the citizens are left unprotected,” he said.

According to him, government may have had good intentions in splitting PHCN, but the investors who took over appeared to have been bitten by the bug of inefficiency and corruption which were the hallmarks of the old regime.

“Only last week, on March 6, aggrieved residents of FESTAC frustrated by the epileptic power supply and high electricity bills supplied to their area by the Eko Electricity Distribution Company in recent times, took to the streets to demonstrate poor electricity supply and high tariff,” Mbisiogu revealed.

He disclosed that half of the country lives in darkness.

“Everywhere you go, in the office, in the streets, at home, in the market places, you are confronted with deafening noises from generating sets. Nigerians are spending billions of naira every year in generating electricity privately.”

The GGI founder said recent research by his organisation indicates that Nigerians spent about N150billion, every year to generate power to use in their homes and offices. He reasoned that when this amount is genuinely ploughed back in the economy, the kind of employment it would generate would be enormous.

“That is why our position has been that the unbundling of PHCN has not in any way benefitted the masses, rather the investors and the government that are collecting taxes are the ones benefitting. Prolonged power outage and high electricity bills, demand for outrageous fees by staff of the company for the installation of pre-paid metres, which ordinarily should be free, compiling bills without commiserate spending by consumers are some of the attendant problems in the sector today,” Mbisiogu added.

Explaining further, the leader of the GGI summarizes his observation by stating that the new investors in the Nigerian electricity sector have failed to fix light three years down the line.

“They have failed to give us constant power supply; they have failed to show the difference when PHCN was there and now that they have taken over. Corruption is still rife and service delivery has worsened,” he said.

According to him, the reasons are not far-fetched as some of the investors were not prepared and just wanted to lay hold of the facilities to advance their own personal gains.  Mbisiogu blamed the federal government for its failure to demand a timeline of performance from the investors when they were bidding for the project.

He said that the failure of the investors has vindicated the GGI, who had advocated earlier for a time frame of delivery by the new investors.

“We said it was not just enough to have these investors take over these projects, but that government should commit them into signing an agreement on the deadline for performance. This was not done and there was nowhere in the take-over clause where penalties could be awarded for failure to perform. So, in effect, we are left at the mercy of the shylock investors,” he added.

“One of the sore points of the old regime that the unbundling tried to eliminate was corruption which was engendered by bureaucracy. Today corruption in the sector is still prevalent.

In all of these, how do we move forward?” He asked.

In what looked like a solution to the lingering poor electricity supply in the country, he said the first thing was that government should review its relationship with the investors.

According to Mbisiogu, this would entail its monitoring and evaluation of the activities of the companies. He claimed that

where there is a default, government should not shy away from imposing penalties as long as those penalties are within the contractual obligations entered into with the investors.

“Nigerians should brace up and not keep quiet in the face of the exploitation that is going on in these companies. The protest by residents of FESTAC is commendable. We encourage other Nigerians to engage in such peaceful protests against inefficiency in the sector.

“We are tired of losing our investments in this country because of lack of constant energy. This country belongs to all of us. And we demand that the energy situation must be improved,” he added.

On the new government about to take over the reins of power, the group urged the incoming government led by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to consolidate on the effort of President Jonathan in the power sector, adding that the out-going president was the only president who has succeeded in privatizing power sector and reckons that it was an achievement to his regime.

“The new incoming regime should focus more on power because Nigerians are really suffering. It is hard to believe that in this modern digitalized world, a country like Nigeria with the largest economy in Africa, people depend on generator sets as a means of power supply.

“GGI believes that once power is fixed, 70% of Nigeria’s problem is solved because it will reduce unemployment, industries will spring up. It will attract FDI and the use of CCTV cameras will work in the major cities in the country, thereby reducing crime. Any government that solves these challenges would be remembered by Nigerians and the future generations,” he added.