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- Urges the state to pull out of AEDC
From John Adams, Minna
The former commissioner for information, culture and tourism and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger State, Hon. Jonathan Vatsa has commended the state governor, Rt. Hon. Umaru Mohammed Bago for signing into law the Niger State electricity bill for the establishment of the state electricity regulatory commission, describing it as a welcome development.
The State electricity bill known as “The Niger State Power Sector Law 2024” was signed into law at the Council Chamber of the Government House, Minna last week by the governor and was expected to commenced operation from the 19th of December 2024.
The law is to provide for the establishment of “Niger State Electricity Regulatory Commission, Niger State Electricity Company, Niger State Electricity Agency and other purposes connected therewith”, covers electricity dealings within the State of any person with or in relation to electricity generation, transmission, trading, electric power exchange dealings, distribution, retail supply system Operation,
Others are the State electricity market electrification of rural underserved and unnerved communities and related aspects of the intra-state electricity business.
Speaking to newsmen in Minna on this development, the former commissioner for pointed out that with the passage of the bill by the state house of assembly and assented to by the governor; it was high time for the state to pull out of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and save the citizens from the jaw of the distribution company.
The former APC publicity secretary, who shared his bitter experiences with the services being offered by the distribution company, said the AEDC has not only demonstrated lack of efficient and capacity since inception, but has position itself as a “criminal agency” extorting money from poor Nigerians while the federal government watched.
While urging the state government to hasting the implementation of the establishment of the electricity regulatory commission, Vatsa believed that the coming on board of an independent power supply in the state will not only boost productivity and the economic lives of the people but create jobs for the youths.
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According to him, the so-called privatization of the power sector in the country is one of the most criminally minded policies by any government since independent, stressing that, “While Nigerians were told that the power sector has been privatized, the government has continued to budget billions for the sector with nothing to show for this investments.
“It is disheartened that today under the watchful eyes of a government that is meant to protect the citizens; the Discos in this country are openly extorting the poor and the helpless Nigerians through dubious estimated billing and nobody is saying anything, the government too is comfortable with this act of criminality.
“I was reliably told that the AEDC said it makes more money from the estimated billing than the prepaid meters and that was what informed the hiking of the prices of these prepaid meters beyond the reach of poor Nigerians so that they will remain under estimated billing. This kind of practice does not happen in a decent society where the government protects its citizens.
“Nigerians pay for transformers, pay for poles, pay for service wires and pay for meters, yet the government said the power sector has been privatized. Nigerians paying for services not rendered and the government did not see anything wrong in it. So why do you raise eyebrow when they said you are the most corrupt country, how else do we describe corruption”, Vatsa queried.
Vatsa who is currently the Special Adviser to the governor on Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative also commended the state house assembly for the speedy passage of the bill which according to him, if implemented, will take the people of the state out of “economic slavery” under AEDC, adding that “the poor citizens of the state who are on estimated billing were made to pay between N25, 000 and N30, 000 every month regardless of the size of their apartment.
“With the coming on board of the Niger State Electricity Regulatory Agency, this criminality by AEDC backed by the federal government must stop in the state. Niger State that accounts for about 70 percent of electricity requirement in this country and cannot boast of 12 hours of electricity supply, can now generate its power supply.”
