Mr Peter Ewesor, the Managing Director of National Electricity Management Service Agency (NEMSA), has said that the organisation will outlaw the use of wooden poles for electricity installation across the country within the year.

Ewesor made the plan known in Abuja on Thursday during an interaction with newsmen.

He said if any person would use wooden poles at all for electricity installation, the pole must be certified by NEMSA as good and qualified for the process.

He said that the agency had finished arrangements to partner organisations, such as Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Federal Fire Service, to ensure that issues that concerned fire and standards were monitored.

Ewesor listed materials to be monitored by the organisations for electricity installation to include cables, transformers and meters.

He said that in places like Ibadan and Benin the agency discovered substandard materials, such as cables and transformers, installed for customers by contractors but the agency disapproved such installations.

He said NEMSA Zonal Office in Abuja, had started house to house inspection of electrical installations.

Ewesor described the agency’s finding during the inspection as astonishing because many people used substandard electrical materials in their houses.

He said NEMSA was not leaving any stone unturned to encourage local meter and transformer manufacturers to produce the materials locally in order to develop the nation’s economy.

Ewesor said that the agency’s encouragement of local manufacture of electrical appliances would assist in employment generation.

He said NEMSA would continue routine inspection of electricity networks and ensure that standards were maintained by companies.

Ewesor called on all electricity users in Nigeria to ensure that they followed all rules and standards in the electricity sector.

He said that the agency would, on its part, make sure that all standards in the sector were observed by persons concerned. (NAN)

•Photo shows NEMSA MD Peter Ewesor.

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