Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman has said that the deal between the federal government and German firm, Siemens, will address the power crisis in the country through the alignment of electricity distribution and transmission.
Mamman, stated this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Power, to defend the 2021 budget estimates of his ministry.
The minister, who stated that the major problem with power supply in the country is an alignment between distribution and transmission, expressed optimism optimism that with the pact with with Siemens, the challenge would a thing of the past soon.
According to him, “the problem we are facing is mainly alignment I want to tell you that there is a plan ongoing, there is a PPI that has now been initiated.
“The Siemens from Germany they are coming to align distribution to transmission. The major problem here is alignment. We are taking care of that”.
He disclosed that the country’s installed grid power generation capacity is now 13,000mw from the 8,000mw that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration inherited in 2015.
He added that the that transmission capacity has also increased to 8,000mw from 5,000 in 2015.
Meanwhile, the House has charged Mamman to ensure that electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) are sanctiond over poor electricity supply across the country.
The lawmakers stated that said apart from poor power supply, the DisCos are exploiting electricity consumers across the country , by making them to pay for transformers and must not be allowed to go scot-free.
The chairman, House Committee on Power, Magaji Da’u Aliyu gave the charge, while speaking at the budget defence session with the minister.
Aliyu , who stated that Nigerians are wondering if the power situation in the country, was not better under the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), said the Discos must not be allowed to get away with the power services they are providing to electricity consumers.
“The only person we know , the Honourable Minister, is you . Please sanction the discos. Punish them. If you do that you will be our darling and the darling of Nigerians also. We don’t know whether we were better under PHCN,” the lawmaker stated.
