Blackout: Buhari summons Power Minister

UGO AMADI

Worried by the aggravating security challenges in Imo State, epileptic electricity supply and economic crisis, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday summoned Governor Hope Uzodimma, the Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu, and the Chief Economic Adviser, Prof Doyin Salami for an emergency meeting in Abuja.

The outcome of the meeting which took place behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa was not made public as at the time of filing this report.

Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media &   Publicity who disclosed this in a statement said the meeting held on Monday afternoon.

“The President is scheduled to meet separately with them and he would be apprised of the latest developments in Imo State, the power sector and the state of the economy.

“It would be recalled that the President while condemning the spate of violence in Imo State in the aftermath of the destruction of buildings and assets of the Police and the home of Prof. George Obiozor, President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, pledged to review the security situation in Southeast Nigeria.

“President Buhari has also voiced his concern over the frequent power outages, apologising to Nigerians and assuring a quick relief to the situation.

Also, it would be recalled that Buhari, Sunday strongly condemned as “deeply distressing” the destruction in Imo State, of buildings and assets of the Police and the home of Prof. George Obiozor, the President General of the Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, and a leading voice of moderation in the affairs of the country.

The President, who strongly condemned the violence in the subregion urged everyone to maintain peace, adding that the law and order capabilities in the Southeast are being strengthened.

While this is being done, President Buhari called on the people of Imo State in particular and the subregion in general to maintain peace as the police and other agencies are working to ensure that normalcy is restored at the earliest.

The President extended sympathies to the police authorities over the losses of men and materials, and to Prof. Obiozor who he urged to maintain his commitment to the peace and oneness of the Federation against these senseless terrorists.

Meanwhile, the government of Imo State has warned civil servants to ignore any call not to go to work on Monday or be ready to be punished for staying away from office.

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Mbadiwe Emelumba, adequate arrangements for security has been put in place to ensure they are in the office to do their work.

The statement reads: “This is to inform all indigenes and residents of Imo state that Government has not authorised any public holiday or sit -at -home across the state, either today, Monday, March 21, 2022 or any other working day

“Consequently, everyone is advised to go about his or her normal duties.

“Civil servants are particularly advised to ensure that they are in their offices discharging their responsibilities. Those who abstain from duty without authorisation will be sanctioned accordingly

“Government hereby assures all indigenes and residents of adequate security as they go about their lawful activities.”

Also, Mr Sanusi Garba, Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), says the Federal Government and stakeholders in the power industry have intensified efforts to address the current challenges facing the sector.

Garba made this known during an interactive session with journalists after the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) meeting on Monday in Lagos.T

The meeting was attended by top officials of NERC, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Generation Companies (GenCos) and electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

 

He said the meeting was in line with the directive of the Minister of Power, Mr Abubakar Aliyu, for stakeholders to work together not only to restore normal supply of electricity but to improve on supply nationwide.

 

Garba said the issue of shortage gas supply to power plants, collapse of the national grid, illiquidity of the industry, huge metering gap and infrastructure deficit were some of the challenges confronting the sector.

 

He said the plan of the government was to ensure that the thermal power plants were working optimally and to ensure that there was stability in the grid.

 

Garba said NERC had approved a special gas pricing for emergency contracting of gas from the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company Ltd., for the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NPDHC), to optimise utilisation of its power plants.

 

According to him, it is expected that about 800MW will be generated from the NDPHC plants.

 

Garba said the gas pipeline affected by acts of vandalism had been restored and the Okpai Power Plant had resumed power generation and currently contributing an average of 300MW.

 

He added that the “pigging” of the gas pipeline supplying gas to the Odukpani Power Plant was scheduled for completion on March 21 thus ramping up generation by about 400MW.

 

On metering, Garba said about 900,000 prepaid meters were installed for customers under the Phase Zero of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) of the Federal Government.

 

He said engagement was already ongoing with local meter manufacturers for the implementation of the phase one of the programme which had a target of four million meters.

 

Garba said the World Bank was also providing finance for another four million meters which would help the nation close the metering gap with about eight million meters in the next three years.

 

He added that NERC had approved a five-year Performance Improvement Plans for the DisCos which would lead to more investments in electricity distribution to end-users.

 

Garba explained that the minor tariff review approved for the DisCos was in line with the tariff methodology adopted by NERC for periodic adjustments of tariffs based on inflation, exchange rates and gas pricing.

 

Also speaking, the Managing Director, TCN, Mr Sule Abdulaziz, said the current administration had spent over N1 trillion on strengthening the transmission network.

 

Abdulaziz said the TCN had the capacity to wheel 8,000MW but was currently receiving 3,500MW from the GenCos.

 

While apologising for the recent system collapse of the national grid, he noted that grid collapse could be caused by a myriad of factors but the most important thing was the restoration period.

 

He noted that contrary to public perception, the collapse of the grid had reduced in the past few years.

 

The TCN boss recalled that the grid collapsed 12 times in 2018, nine times in 2019, four times in 2020, twice in 2021 and so far three times in 2022.