President Muhammadu Buhari, has on Friday, said that the tariff shortfalls in the Power sector being borne by the Federal Government, are no longer sustainable,
He stated this at the inauguration of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company’s, EKEDC, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition-Distribution Management System Centre, in Lagos.
He said that the SCADA system would help the EKEDC monitor and respond more quickly to faults and reduce outage durations, thereby improving the quality of service to customers.
Represented by the Minister of Power, Mr. Sale Mamman, the President stated that his administration remains committed to addressing the liquidity challenges that are adversely affecting the Power sector’s viability.
His words: “We have noted with grave concern, the increased fiscal burden on the Federal Government, occasioned by the tariff shortfalls in the sector, which are no longer sustainable.”
He added that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, Power Assistance Fund targeted at supporting tariff shortfalls, can no longer be extended, and must be phased out, to promote the sector’s financial independence.
He added: “We are also aware that these tariff shortfalls sit on DisCos’ books, and impair their ability to raise capital and invest.
“The Federal Government is working assiduously to address these financial and fiscal challenges through various programmes, such as the National Mass Metering Programme, the Siemens AG Power Project, and the World Bank Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, etc.”
The President stressed the need to ensure an alignment of capacity and attraction of investments across the generation, transmission, and distribution components of the Power sector’s value chain.
President Buhari said that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Power, had inaugurated several projects to address challenges of the critical Power infrastructure in the country.
More news later…
