Following the worsening power supply in the nation, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has summoned the chief executives of Abuja and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Companies.
The minister also summoned the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Abdulazeez over the deteriorating power situation in the country.
In a letter signed by the Director, Distribution Services at the Federal Ministry of Power, B.U Mustapha, the CEOs of the Discos and TCN were enjoined to attend a meeting to be held in the coming week.
According to the letter, the meeting is scheduled to deliberate on issues concerning the worsening electricity supply in the country to proffer lasting solutions.
The deterioration of power supply, which has been attributed to the over $1 billion indebtedness to gas producers for the amount of product required to run thermal gas-fired power plants by power stakeholders began since the beginning of the year.
The minister in a statement signed by his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, warned that the management of other non-performing discos would also be queried as reports continue to filter in on the situation in their regions.
“Wilful non- performance by any DISCO could suffice as a reason for severe punishment or outright license revocation,” he said.
According to the minister’s aide, despite the shortage of gas, the ministry has been putting pressure on the Generating Companies (GENCOs) to improve performance and generation has been ramped up to over 4000MW in recent days, revealing that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN.
“These two DISCOs have been summoned due to the worsening power supply situation in their regions despite improved supply from TCN.
“So, we expect power supply to have improved across the country, unlike what we are experiencing in some regions, presently. Findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions,” he stated.
