Business
Erratic power supply will continue until DisCos can ‘collect tariffs effectively’- Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Saturday said the challenge of irregular power supply in Nigeria was likely to persist until Distribution Companies (DisCos) could effectively collect tariffs from consumers through available and affordable metering system.
Osinbajo made these remarks in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State while inaugurating an electric metering factory as part of activities marking the 30th anniversary of the state’s creation.
The vice president argued that Nigeria’s economic development was heavily dependent on effective power supply, and lamented the fact that DisCos had not been able to collect tariffs because of non-availability of meters.
“The electric metering factory is an important project. Inadequate power is the major obstacle to full economic development in Nigeria.
“We have also identified the facts that DISCO is unable to collect tariffs effectively from consumers because we are unable to afford the cost of metering.
“I think there is an important policy innovation, as there is no restriction on those who can actually produce meter for our consumers”, he said.
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He commended the Akwa Ibom State government for establishing the metering factory, saying the Federal Government was hopeful of more of such factories springing up across the country.
“The country is open for this kind of enterprise and we are looking forward to a lot more activities.
“But we are looking at 2.7 million units of meters annually here and this is absolutely fantastic.
“I know that job opportunities here will be substantial for a start”, Osinbajo said.
In his speech, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, said the factory would manufacture an average of one million meters annually, and thanked the investors for their confidence in the state.
“The essence of this industry is to ensure power for all. Once you can buy recharge cards, you can have electricity, it is available for all.
“The capacity can be doubled from 2.7 to 5.4 to enable us pay for the power that we generate.
“The project is a private initiative for the betterment of all Akwa Ibom people and for Nigeria at large”, Emmanuel said.
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JOHNSON PETER
September 24, 2017 at 11:34 am
Issue prepaid meter to all electricity users to halt erratic bills as well, at least I will pay for what I use
Balarabe musa
September 24, 2017 at 12:26 pm
Phcn don’t want everyone to have access to the prepaid meter so that they can still have illegal ways of making money, but I urge baba buhari to order for rapid distribution of prepaid meter for all electricity users
seyi jelili
September 24, 2017 at 1:05 pm
My vice president sir, we are not even enjoying light at all and paying for such is absurd. Sir please enforce Disco to steadilise the power supply to an extent so that we can pay
Anita Kingsley
September 24, 2017 at 3:56 pm
If that’s the case, it means there will never be constant power supply in Nigeria, because Nigerians will never pay for electricity they are not seeing
Animashaun Ayodeji
September 24, 2017 at 4:00 pm
Mr Vice President seems not to understand what Nigerians are going through and how heartbreaking Nigeria’s electricity is. If the DisCos want to perfect tariff, they should be ready to give free electricity for at least two months, that’s when Nigerian’s can be encouraged, with the current bad state of electricity, Nigerians will not pay for power that is not constant
Abeni Adebisi
September 24, 2017 at 4:03 pm
The annoying part of this is that they give excessive bills. In a month, we use electricity for less than four days, when we sum up all the hours PHCN gives light of the month, and when they will bring bill, they will slap us with N10,000 bill, which is too much for a three bed rooms flat, if the light is to be constant for a month, that means they will bring nothing less than N70,000. They are all silly, they should hold their power
Anita Kingsley
September 24, 2017 at 4:06 pm
That’s the nonsense they are doing Nationwide. That’s why we’ve settled for generator in our house, with N7,000 we’ll fuel our generator and use N1,000 oil for it, for a month instead of paying PHCN for what we are not seeing. The system is a big scam