The member representing Lavun/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency of Niger State and the Deputy Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Power, Hon. Joshua Gana, says the committee is ready to bring about comprehensive solutions to the problems in the power sector.
He disclosed in an interview with Voice of Nigeria, in Abuja.
He said that as representatives of the people, agencies in the power sector are to bring before them their plans and programmes to stop the erratic problems in the power sector.
“We as the people’s representatives will be there to look through their budgets, through their programmes and to see if from what has been happening in the past, something new or something different is being done to bring about total solutions to the power sector. It’s not what the National Assembly wants; we are the voice of the people. We are here to create laws that will help them in the executive arm to fulfil their assignments and we are also to represent the people’s interest because Nigerians are suffering,” Gana said.
He also said that the committee would look at the Power Sector Amendment Act to find out the existing gaps and bridge them through law.
The lawmaker noted that it was time to make the power sector commercially viable and not a service provision sector.
“For an investment to come to the power sector, look at the cost of putting a turbine, look at the cost of transmitting power and getting it to the load centres. If the amount you are selling the power cannot pay for the cost of installing power, then it’s not a business. It’s a service and if it’s a service, it is the only government that can provide that service. As I’ve seen it over the years, the government has been providing service and making it cheap for the people. This has made most of our power entities moribund because they are not commercially viable. They are utilities that are just there to keep giving people power free. So, for the private sector to come in, as they have been clamouring for, the tariff regime must cost reflective to say within ten years or fifteen years we should be able to recoup all our investments and make our profits by giving power to Nigerians,” he said.
He pointed out that there was the need to segmentise power distribution in Nigeria by using solar in the rural areas and electricity to those that can afford it.
“That will bring us to a regime where we segment Nigeria’s power usage. In marketing, it is called market segmentation. For the industrial areas, people that want to go into production, baseload power at whatever amount. It will always be cheaper than you buying a generator, buying diesel, or any other form of fuel,” Hon Gana said.
He said that until segmentation happens, the power sector can not improve.
According to the lawmaker, the metering system must be encouraged in the country for effective power supply.
Hon. Gana also said that Nigerians do not have the right to power generation and therefore should not be made to pay for metres or transformers.
He stressed that the Power Committee would investigate such abnormalities and work to curb such.
He also said that the committee would engage the World Bank and other relevant agencies to help in subsidizing power for low-income Nigerians.
He also said that he would continue to serve the interests of the people and advance critical issues related to power generation, distribution, and sustainability.
Hon Gana added that he has a thirty-point agenda for the people of Lavun/Mokwa/Edati Federal Constituency, which includes: Effective representation, Agricultural export, Education, and health, amongst others.
Dominia Nwabufo
