FG Says No Automatic Renewal of Licenses of DISCOS and GENCOS, Expiring this Month
Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu has alerted that operational licenses issued to investors in Nigeria’s power sector, may be automatically renewed.
The ten year old licenses issued to the Electricity Distribution Companies, and Electricity Gerneration Companies (GENCO), are due for renewal on November 1, 2023.
The minister said the licenses would be renewed, if they prove that they had met the terms stipulated in the license issued to them, when the power sector was privatized by the Jonathan administration.
The minister spoke at the Nigerian electricity supply industry market privatization and stakeholder’s roundtable in Monday in Abuja.
Also, President Bola Tinubu in a message to the meeting, said the ten year old privatization of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has failed to meet its objectives.
Ten years after, the president said the power sector was still caught in a vicious cycle of underperforming and under-investment, resulting in over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s population lacking access to electricity.
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Tinubu expressed concern that the national power grid was still serving only 15 per cent of Nigeria’s power demand, increasing electricity supply from 3,000 megawatts ten year ago to 4,000 Megawatts (MW), against the projected 40,000 MW by 2020.
He blamed the underperformance of the DISCOS on inadequate technical and financial capacity.
Abbas who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Victor Nwokolo, said, “as part of our efforts at addressing the challenges of the power sector, the House recently directed its committee on Power to investigate Federal government’s financial interventions for the power sector since the privatization in 2013.
“This inquiry has become imperative due to persistent complaints from the Distribution Companies (DISCOS) about revenue generation and collection, despite the government injecting 7 trillion into the sector.
“I take this opportunity to invite you all to contribute your valuable insights and advice to the Committee, as we strive to unravel the seemingly intractable challenges plaguing this sector”, he said.
Earlier, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Alex Okoh said, it was needless to continue to dwell on past challenges, noting that attention should be jointly and constructively focused on what could be done to resolve the sector issues and achieve optimal performance of the NESI.
