The president stated this yesterday at the opening of a two-day retreat for governors of the 36 states of the federation and members of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the presidential villa,Abuja. Buhari explained that the situation of the sale of power assets was difficult to determine whether it was done in public interest or with profit motives. “We are facing the classic dilemma of pri-vatisation: Public Interest vs Profit Motive.
Having started, we must complete the process,” the president stressed. He lamented that it was worrisome that despite full privatisation, the sector has yet to show any improvement in the quality of service and with constant power cuts destroying economic activities and affecting quality of life.
The president said that he was particularly worried with Nigerians complaining about high electricity bills despite power cuts, low supply of gas to power plants due to vandalism by terrorists and obsolete power distribution equipment such as transmission.
Other problems that also worry him about the sector are “power fluctuations, which damage manufacturing equipment and household appliances and low voltage which cannot run industrial machinery.
“These are some of the problems, which defied successive governments. In our determination to change, we must and will, insha Allah, put a stop to power shortages,” he added. According to him, “Nigerians’ favourite talking point and butt of jokes is the power situation in our country.
But, ladies and gentlemen, it is no longer a laughing matter. “We must and by the grace of God, we will put things right. In the three years left for this administration, we have given ourselves the target of 10,000 megawatts distributable power.
In 2016 alone, we intend to add 2,000 megawatts to the national grid.” The president stressed that going forward, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the regulatory authority, has a vital job to ensure consumers get value for money and overall public interest is safeguarded.
Buhari, who challenged the NEC retreat to consider the privatisation exercise, said government will have to also fast-track completion of pipelines from gas points to power stations and provide more security to protect gas and oil pipelines. ”
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