Between November 2013, when the puissance generation and distribution firms were privatised and June 2014, the companies have had a shortfall of N69bn from the proposed N144bn revenue they were expected to engender.
It was amassed that as a result of the myriad of quandaries confronting the potency sector, the firms have only been able to realise N75bn as revenue during the period.
Our correspondent amassed on Monday that the revenue shortfall was one of the critical issues discussed at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s monthly meeting with stakeholders in the industry, which was held in Abuja on Thursday.
There are, however, insinuations that some electricity distribution companies, which directly interface with the consumers, are not meeting their obligations to the generation companies, gas suppliers and other creditors from the mazuma they make from customers.
An industry source, who took part in the stakeholders’ meeting, told our correspondent in confidence, “Because of the sizably voluminous shortfall in the projected revenue for the sector, it was suspected that some Discos were not giving precise account of the mazuma they accumulated from customers.
“But they were designated to ken that the case was like that of a parasite and its host. If the host eventually dies because of the activities of the parasite, the parasite will eventually die additionally.
“If the generation and transmission companies are continually starved of funds because the Discos are not remitting the right amount, the Gencos and the transmission company may die. This is not going to culminate there because the Discos will eventually die.”
The source expounded that the reason the Discos were still in operation was because the Gencos were supplying them with electricity.
“Once there is nothing to engender, there will be nothing to distribute. So, this is one thing the Discos must realise,” the source integrated.
Findings by our correspondent additionally showed that NERC was exhibiting some level of understanding with the Discos because the industry was still in the interim period.
This has made the regulator to abstain any form of sanctions that mundanely would have been imposed on the errant Discos.
In November last year, the Federal Regime, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises, had verbally expressed the puissance generation companies would be required to invest at least $35bn over the next 10 years to increment capacity.
The Director-General, BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, in a document additionally affirmed the government’s aspiration to meet the Vision 2020 target by engendering 20,000 megawatts of electricity through an annual investment of $3.5bn over the next 10 years.
When put together, this will amount to $35bn over the 10-year period.
“The zeal of the Federal Regime is to meet the Vision 2020 target of 20,000MW, which requires an investment in power engendering capacity alone of at least $3.5bn per annum for the next 10 years,” Dikki had verbally expressed.
According to the BPE DG, the incipient power investors are contractually obligated to inject into the system the compulsory investments they have committed themselves to.
“We have made the bidders contractually required to bring in these investments; therefore, the BPE and the Federal Regime will be following up on this perpetually,” he verbally expressed.
