Lagos – Some experts in the power sector on Friday commended Federal Government for taking over the management of Yola Electricity Distribution Company due to lack of service to consumers.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that this would send a strong signal to other Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to sit tight in terms of service delivery.
Mr Adekunle Makinde, the immediate-past Chairman of Nigeria Institution of Electrical Electronics Engineers (NIEEE), said there were agreements signed by the company and the government.
Makinde said that since the company could no longer serve its consumers in this capacity, it was good for the government to take over the company so that the consumer should enjoy power supply.
He urged the government to extend its hands to other DISCOs that were not capable of regular power supply to its consumers.
“The step is good; the government should also extend its hands to other sectors from the power sector.
“This will make most of the companies to sit tight and know that they cannot be collecting our money for fun,’’ he said.
Also, Mr Yomi Kolawole, the Managing Director, Topean Energy Solution, said the step would put confidence in consumers because they thought that the investors were relations of the government.
“The taking over will enable the consumers to know that the government has their interest in mind.
“You cannot just sit there doing nothing and collecting money from consumers.
“The government should sanction more DISCOs found wanting in the performance of its duty,’’ he said.
Mr Tunde Okeowo, a Shomolu-based consumer in Lagos, said the decision by the government was a welcome idea.
Okoewo said the government could replicate such decision on other DISCOs perceived by consumers not to be operating at maximum capacity.
Mr Ugochukwu Okoroma, another consumer based in Lagos, said that the takeover was a sad development and a major drawback to the power sector reform, especially on the privatisation exercise.
Okoroma said that “Federal Government takeover of the firm means it lacks the technical expertise and financial capacity to carry out expected activities’’.
He said that the development questioned the due diligence carried out on the firm by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE).
Okoroma said that the development was an affirmation of the allegation by many that the privatised firms were sold to government cronies.
Also, Mr Malachy Ezeokolie, called on the Federal Government to revisit the privatisation conducted in the recent past.
Ezeokolie said that government needed to ascertain the real owners of all the DISCOs and their financial capacity as well as expertise.
