LAST week, the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country listed certain conditions for accepting the National Assembly?s N500bn recapitalisation plan. The plan is meant for each of the 11 DisCos nationwide. This was just as the companies retorted that they were not under the control of the House of Representatives, which directed the recapitalisation, but the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Before the DisCos? outburst, the House of Representatives had mandated them to undertake a N500bn recapitalisation to enhance their financial stability and ensure they could efficiently meet their obligations to the Nigerian public. The resolution by the Green Chamber was a sequel to a motion sponsored by the member representing the Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency of Ogun State, Ayokunle Isiaka. In his motion, Isiaka had highlighted that DisCos? recent actions which he believed posed a significant threat to Nigeria?s economic stability and the welfare of Nigerians. As the lawmaker pointed out, even after paying for electricity meter installations, Nigerians were still confronted by demands by the DisCos for additional payments to replace these meters under controversial circumstances. His words: ?DisCos are demanding additional payments for the replacement of these meters under dubious pretences, undermining consumer trust and exacerbating financial burdens.?

As a follow-up move, the Green Chamber, on Wednesday, mandated its committee on power to investigate the failure of the DisCos to replace obsolete meters and improve infrastructure, and their reliance on consumer contributions for maintenance and equipment replacement. In addition, it urged the NERC to ensure strict enforcement of its directive on the replacement of obsolete meters at no cost to consumers within a specified time frame. It also called on the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to prioritise funding and incentives for upgrading electricity infrastructure, especially transformers, to reduce load-shedding and improve service delivery across the country. The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by the member representing Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West and Ukwuani Federal Constituency of Delta State, Honourable Nnamdi Ezechi, on the need to address the metering crisis and allied challenges in the electricity distribution sector. Ezechi had bemoaned the ongoing metering crisis in the country, particularly the failure of the DisCos to replace obsolete meters as recently mandated by the NERC, saying that the development had led to the decommissioning of over one million meters and exacerbated the challenging faced by consumers.

As Ezechi pointed out, many Nigerians who applied for meter upgrades months ago had not got it, leaving them to resort to costly alternatives, such as paying over N200,000 for new meters, or facing exorbitant charges for direct connections, which could cost up to N500,000 for a few days. The lawmaker further noted that the problem of maintaining electricity infrastructure, such as transformers, had continued to fall on the consumers, who were often required to contribute funds for repairs, replacements, or storing cables and other maintenance costs, even though such responsibilities should lie with the DisCos. He pointed out that the infrastructure used by distribution companies, including transformers, had remained outdated without investments in new equipment to ease load-shedding and improve service delivery, while new transformers installed in communities were often privately procured through community contributions. The lawmaker lamented that the private sector?s monopolies in the electricity sector had not alleviated the inefficiencies in the sector, thus raising questions about the effectiveness of privatisation in ensuring affordable and reliable electricity for all Nigerians.

The Green Chamber is indeed right to be concerned about the plight of electricity consumers in the country. As we have noted over the years, power consumers have been treated shabbily by the government, the regulatory agencies and the distribution companies. When the privatisation that birthed the DisCos was done, it was without any consideration for the masses of Nigerians who have been continually forced to pay through the nose for utter darkness. Inheriting the assets and liabilities of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), these DisCos became nothing more than revenue collectors. They added nothing of value to the inherited companies and carried on like lords of the manor, extracting payments for power not enjoyed by consumers, institutionalising the fraud called estimated billing, and introducing sundry charges that did nothing to enhance power supply.

What real value addition have the discos brought to power supply? Their inefficiency has killed a lot of the country?s small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). They operate like Ponzi schemes, exploiting consumers with relish and justifying their inefficiency and incompetence with a salad of excuses, utterly bereft of any sense of responsibility. However, while we agree with the sentiments expressed by the Green Chamber, we do not think that recapitalisation alone will solve the problems it itemised. It is true that infrastructural decay needs to be addressed, and decisively too, but much more important is, we believe, the issue of responsibility and value for money. The lawmakers will be doing the country a lot of good if they hold the regulatory agencies and the DisCos to account for their poor service to Nigerians, and firm up the frameworks for redress. The DisCos must be made to give value for money and not merely exploit Nigerians. For years, the regulatory agencies in the country have been asleep at the wheel, and the situation in the power sector has been no different. This has to be decisively addressed.

Needless to say, we are in complete agreement with the House in its quest to get the DisCos to create accessible and transparent systems for meter upgrade and replacement, with penalty for non-compliance to prevent the exploitation of consumers. (Nigerian Tribune Editorial)

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