Following the incessant power cuts nationwide in recent times, the federal government on Tuesday met with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to seek their collaboration in the planned ramp up of supply to Nigerians.
Speaking with representatives of both Discos in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, said that although ramping up supply takes time, the power distributors can in the short term remove immediate obstacles and increase supply.
He admitted that the problem with the power sector is not what the government can just throw money at and get results immediately and sought the commitment of the operators beyond pursuing profits.
“Since I was drafted here in the ministry, unlike past administrations, we want to focus on bottom-up solutions. In the past, they have focused on top-down, looking at ramping up generation capacity with very little attention paid to the medium of transportation and delivery of power, which is transmission and distribution.
“We were carrying out just a little improvement or enhancement of our transmission capacity, while Discos have been left with no investment in infrastructure improvements? Even if you are able to generate this power, how do you get it to the consumer?
“What we are doing at the generation and transmission level is wasteful if you cannot get it to the consumers. Which is why we said we are to start from distribution.
“Let us look at the issues, how we can correct these issues and create the kind of market that we desire. Let’s start looking at what is the metering gap? What are the distribution infrastructure that need upgrade? What is our tariff policy? How do we reduce loss at the distribution level?
“How do we improve our collections? How do we get a lot of consumers that have been off the grid? How do we get them back to the grid and create the required demand? And that is what will dictate transmission improvements and generation output enhancements,” he added.
Adelabu stated that as a minister, his job revolves around policy formulation and policy execution, since he doesn’t own a power generator company, transmission company or a distribution firm.
Also, the Director of Distribution at the Power Ministry, Baba Mustapha, said with the marching order to improve power supply, there was hope of ramping up supply in Abuja in a couple of weeks.
