The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, says the Federal Government will appoint Power Desk Officers in 36 states and FCT for effective electricity development in the country.

Fashola said this on Tuesday at a news conference in Abuja.

He said that to ensure effective development, the ministry would collaborate with state commissioners of works and housing to achieve this.

He said that in 2013, government was the sole owner of all power assets in Nigeria except a few independent power plants.

Fashola said that with the implementation of Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005, government ownership of power changed, adding that government now focused on transmission network and gas supply.

He said that government spending on all aspects of power had significantly reduced except for some projects started under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).

He explained that Gencos and Discos focused on producing power and distributing it while government was now a regulator through the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

He said that the Federal Government would strengthen this part of its responsibility so that it could hold the Gencos and Discos to their contracts with citizens.

He reiterated that government must play its role of providing gas and expanding the transmission network.

He said the ministry of petroleum had indicated interest to build pipelines to transport gas to power plants that would add another 2,000 mw to power stock within 12-15 months.

According to him, government has identified 142 projects of which 45 are at 50 per cent completion and about 22 can be completed within a year.

He explained that government would expand the carrying capacity of TCN, Gencos and the Discos, so that in future there would be capacity to carry whatever power was generated.

He assured the investors that government would maintain its credibility with them, adding that the surest way not to have power was to oppose the implementation of the Tariff Order.

Fashola said government would meet with NERC to ensure that both consumers and investors would not be cheated.

Fashola urged all governments’ parastatals, states and all its agencies to ensure payment of their electricity bills regularly to move the sector forward. (NAN)

•Photo shows Fashola.