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A Coalition of Arewa Assemblies has decried recent moves to stop the provision of Eligible Customer, (EC) scheme in the Nigerian electricity market.
The Coalition in a statement issued at the weekend by its National Coordinator, Mallam Attahiru Usman, described the move by some DisCos to remove this vital element in the country’s energy market as a deliberate attempt to collapse the economy, stressing that more industries may soon be out of business if the move was not halted.
He explained that the plot by the cartel if not quickly arrested will not only cause more injuries to manufacturing industries but will also lead to the total collapse of the economy, thereby raising the unemployment scourge as more industries will wind-down operations.
The group however appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, and his economic team to urgently wade-into the matter even as it called on the leadership of the National Assembly led by the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, to adopt legislative processes to unravel the plot.
The group also urged the 36 state governors under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to rally round its members in a bid to arrest unemployment challenge and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) deficits, stressing that many industries have collapsed in Kano, Kaduna, Zamfara, Lagos, Ogun and other states of the federation while many others are operating below capacity.
The statement read in part “As part of efforts towards actualising their aims of increasing electricity tariffs, the said cartel plotted a coup d’état which ensured that Mr. Raji Fashola was not returned as Minister for Power for a second term, while the former Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria, (TCN) was also relieved of his appointment. “Unfortunately, it is crystal clear at this point to note that the purpose of privatisation has not been achieved. He also alleged that some DisCos have found their ways to cause policy summersault by mis-regulating the system, increasing electricity tariff as well as planned to cancel Eligible Customers which is the only avenue for the Electricity Generation Companies to sell close to 3000 stranded powers that DisCos were not able to evacuate.
