MAN expresses concern over skewed implementation of NMMP phase 11

COMFORT EKELEME

The Manufactures Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed concern over the implementation of National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) Phase II World Bank funded supply of 1.2 million smart energy meters.

This is even as the association maintained that the energy meter procurement and pricing should be liberalized.

Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir in a statement said, the association is convinced that the liberalization of the distribution end of the value chain will eradicate these bottlenecks and give fillip to the efforts of government to bridge the metering gap and ensure just electricity billing regime.

He said the advertised financial requirements and the technical specifications by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) appears to be skewed against local manufacturers as they are outrageously stringent and negate the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines for the implementation of NMMP.

He said, this is a federal government intervention in power sector to accelerate energy meter supply in the country to bridge the metering gap and ought to be in sync with our overall national economic development objectives.

“We warn that this portends grave danger for the power sector as we may be witnessing a repeat of the ugly scenario in 2012 when local manufacturers where sidelined in the meter supply and the nation was greeted with supply of substandard meters supplied by the foreign companies that were awarded the contract that were later removed from the network.

“The position of the TCN that installation will provide employment opportunities to Nigerians will completely pale into insignificance when compared with a ratio of 1 to 10 jobs that will be created if local manufacturers are included in the scheme.

“It should be recalled that, in keeping with the Federal Government’s backward integration policy and the advent of the NMMP intervention, manufacturers have made huge investments in expansion of manufacturing capacities, trained and promoted highly skilled workforce to meet the demands of the power sector as envisaged in the NESI,” he said.

Speaking further, the MAN DG noted that the seeming intentional denial of the local manufacturers does not take into cognizance their sterling performance of the nascent local manufacturing, vis:i) Deployment and installation of a total number of 611,231 energy meters across the country between January 2019 till 31st January, 2021.

He said, this is corroborated by the report of the Regulatory Agency, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, under the Meter Assets Provider (MAP) initiative of the federal government, adding that the deployment and installation of 1million energy meters across the country under the phase zero of the NMMP.

“We opine that the subsisting Executive order 003 on patronage of made in Nigeria products and the avowed policy of government to give priority and first consideration to local businesses should have made the government to interrogate the World Bank documents and actively consulted/engaged Nigerian stakeholders in the sector with a view mainstreaming their inputs.

“This is clearly the cardinal aspirations of the NMMP scheme, which is to strengthen the local meter value chain by increasing local meter manufacturing, assembly and deployment capacity as well as to support Nigeria’s economic recovery by creating jobs in the local meter value chain,” he said.