Fred Itua, Abuja
The Senate has introduced a bill to criminalise the importation, purchase and use of power generating sets in the country.
Sponsored by Bima Muhammad Enagi, a senator from Niger State, the bill is tagged: “A bill for an act to prohibit/ban the importation/use of generating sets to curb the menace of environmental (air) pollution and facilitate the development of the power sector.”
The bill states that anyone that imports generators shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to 10 years in prisonment. It, however, creates exemptions for some critical sectors and institutions of the country that require 24-hour power supply.
“This subsection shall not apply to the importation or sale of any generating set to be used for essential services. The ban and prohibition of generating sets shall not include generating sets used for essential services, which include medical purposes, hospitals and nursing homes and healthcare facilities, airports, railway stations and services, elevators, escalators, research institutions, and such facilities that require 24 hours electric power supply.”
The bill prescribes that an approval for exclusion “shall be obtained from the minister in charge of power, which shall brief the Federal Executive Council quarterly on approvals granted.”
“Anyone who imports generating sets, knowingly sells generating sets, shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years. All persons are hereby directed to stop the use of electricity generating sets, which run on diesel/petrol or kerosine of all capacities with immediate effect in the country,” the bill states.
If the bill scales through and its signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly, embassies, government houses in the 36 states, among others, would be thrown into darkness whenever there is outage from public power supply, as these facilities rely on standby diesel or petrol-powered generators.
Enagi is the third senator from Niger State to sponsor a bill that many would term controversial. Before now, there were Abdullahi Sabi Abdullahi and Sani Musa, sponsors of the Hate Speech and Anti-Social Media bills, respectively.