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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Joshua Gana, has said the 10th House will review the Power Reform Act, so as to bridge existing gaps.
Gana, who spoke in an interview, with journalists, in Abuja, said the House Committee on Power is committed to effective oversight of the power sector, so as to ensure quality service delivery.
The lawmaker noted that there is a need to segment power supply in the country so that residents and industry can pay a cost-reflective price for power, while those in rural areas can be provided with solar-powered electricity.
According to him, “We will wait to see the plan of the president and whoever he appoints as a minister and deputy minister of power and all the agencies under the Federal Ministry of Power. They are to bring before us all their programme and to stop all the epileptic problems in the power sector.
“We as the representatives of the people will be there to look through their budget, through their programmes and to see if from what has been happening in the past, something new, something different is being done to bring about a total solution to the power sector.
“We are here to create laws that will help them in the executive arm fulfil their assignment. We are also to represent the people’s interests. There has been the Power Sector Amendment Act, which is operational now. We will look at it viz a viz what has been there since the power sector reform Act was passed in 2005.”
Furthermore, Gana said “We need to segment Nigeria’s power usage. For the industrial area, people that want to go into production, baseload power at whatever amount. It will always be cheaper than you buying generators, using diesel or any other form of fuel.
“Gas-fired hydroelectric or any other form of power solution will give power at a regulated price that is cost-reflective for a long time. And with that stability in the market every investor will know that in X amount of years, I will get the money I invested.
” So we need to segmentize. For those that are in a rural area, the Rural Electrification Agency use solar so that with sunrays from morning to evening, they have to plan their life. A segment of power wants that kind of power, the rural electrification agency gives them that kind of power.
“We can do for the whole country. But there’s a certain amount of load it can carry. So, we must tweak our laws to fit Nigeria’s market segment. Not everybody can pay for generated grid power tariffs. Not everyone.”
