By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Saddened by the abysmal performance in terms of electricity supply which has persisted in Nigeria even after privatisation over the years, the President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Festus Osifo, has recommended the sack of electricity distribution companies, DisCos by the next administration.
Expressing the displeasure of the union over disappointing performance of the DisCos, Osifo urged the incoming federal government to, without delay, revoke the operational licenses of DisCos on the ground of their poor performance.
Citing the inability of the investors to bring the expected turnaround maintenance and development in the electricity sector as another reason why he was calling for cancelling the entire privatisation exercise, he noted that since the investors have been performing below expectation in spite of all interventions, government should withdraw their licenses.
The privatisation of the nation’s upstream and downstream sub-sectors of the nation’s power sector in November 2013 as part of reforms aimed to improve performance saw the emergency of 11 DisCos owned and run by their respective investors.
However, Nigerians have had to continue to grapple with the prevailing epileptic and substandard power supply 9 years down the line, with no hope in sight.
Osifo, in a report obtained by SUMMIT Post,
who made the call while speaking on the state of the nation, further stated that the power targets set by the outgoing administration, despite the availability of human and natural resources, had been disappointing as reason for his call of withdrawal of the licenses.
The PENGASSAN helmsman expressed concern on why the nation could not explore other alternatives to improve power supply and use such to grow the economy since economic growth is largely dependent on the availability of steady power supply.
He said, “oil workers urged the government to complete the power and energy sector deregulation process by opening up the transmission segment of power value chains to competent private participation and investments.
“In pursuing this, the union advocated managerial experience, technical expertise and financial capabilities to be considered for willing and prospetive investors,” the PENGASSAN boss said.
Expressing the concern of the union, Osifo recommended that a security summit that would look into lasting solution to insecurity should be among those national topical issues the next administration should prioritise.