Thursday 12 November 2015

BARTH NNAJI ATTRIBUTES EPILEPTIC POWER SUPPLY TO INEPTITUDE OF REGULATORY AGENCIES

Professor Barth Nnaji
A world-class power expert and erstwhile Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji, has attributed the persistent poor power supply in Nigeria to the inability of regulatory agencies to discharge their duties effectively.

Prof. Nnaji revealed this while speaking at a session of Senate Ad hoc Committee on Power last Wednesday in Abuja. He expressed grief that despite huge investment in the sector over the years, Nigerians were yet to enjoy adequate power supply. According to him, about half of the power being generated is not getting to the consumers as a result of poor transmission.


In his own words: "Out of the amount of power that is distributed to transmission companies, only about 50 percent of it gets to the consumers; it is an incredible inefficiency in the power system that must be cured.”

In his own speech, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who was ably represented by his deputy, Chief Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, otherwise known as Ikeoha Ndigbo, stated that epileptic power supply witnessed in the country over the years was a major challenge.

He said: "You don’t have to be an economist to observe that if we do not improve on the availability and accessibility of adequate power to drive the economy, our developmental aspirations will continue to emaciate.”

He made it clear that it was in recognition of the paramount role played by the power sector in aiding development that the senate decided to place enormous emphasis on the improvement of the sector, adding that the reason for the probe was because there was a very clear distinction between the public investment that had been made in the power sector and the returns Nigerians saw in the sector between 1999 and 2014.

No comments:

Post a Comment