By Adewale Sanyaolu

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The Executive Director, Networks, Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria (NDPHC), Mr. Ife Oyedele, has said poor execution remains the bane of the Federal Government’s power sector privatisation policy.
He stated this on the sidelines of the 2022 University of Lagos (Unilag) Distinguised Alumni Dinner and Awards held in Lagos at the weekend.
Oyedele who was one of the Alumni award recipients maintained that the failure of the Federal Government at that time to adhere to the template provided by the World Bank to be executed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) created challenges for the power sector privatization exercise, saying if the model had been followed, there wouldn’t be problems.
“I am one of those that believe that the power sector privatisation although intended well but not properly executed.’’
He lamented that over the years, the country failed to do what it was meant to do in the power sector, a decision that is currently hurting it. He added that there are a lot of disjoints in the current model being operated in the power sector as at today, stating that he has written many papers and delivered a lot of lectures in that regard.
However, he said, what the Government is doing currently is in order and progress are being recorded but because where we are coming from is a long journey makes the process appear slow, assuring that very soon, Nigerians will begin to see the efforts of the current administration in a few years time.
On the contributions of NDPHC to the power sector and the economy at large, Oyedele said the company is perhaps the most successful publicly owned organisiation in Africa today, having the largest fleet of generation companies in Nigeria and indeed Africa because no single organization has such number. He added that NDPHC intervention in the transmission arm of the power sector is almost 60 per cent in the entire transmission network which included transmission lines and TCN sub-stations.
On distribution, he said, the company has delivered over 310 injection sub-stations, boosting that he doubts if there was any community in Nigeria that has not felt the impact if NDPHC.
The NDPHC boss maintained that the company has not slowed down in its determination to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerians even in the face of funding constraints.
Oyedele said a situation whereby the company generates about 4,000MW but the transmission infrastructure is not able to absorb that quantum of electricity becomes a constraint, thus forcing it to share electricity generated with other generation companies in Nigeria.
He explained that monies realized from the sale of electricity is what the company uses to embark on the several projects it was executing, adding that prior before now, it was getting funding from the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) but since the agency has seized to exist in line with the new Petroleum Industry Act(PIA) that source of funding has been shut out.