In assessing President Muhammadu Buhari’s 100 days in office, the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, did not fail to explain to those who cared to know that the ‘new Sherriff in town’ had arrived and the non-verbal communiqué from his body language was responsible for the power improvement we had noticed. Even when paired with his counterpart at People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, on a breakfast show on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Lai Mohammed made it clear to all that things were no longer the way they were in the past.
True, there has been considerable improvement in power supply in most areas (some affected areas are yet to enjoy this) across the country has different ‘vox populi’ conducted by various media outfits allude to this. Even the social media is not left out as people display pictures of ice blocks in their refrigerators and all sorts to confirm this. Nonetheless, we all know it is not yet uhuru in the power sector.
President Buhari campaigned with the mantra of fighting corruption and there is so much expectation that ‘due process’ will once again become the order of the day. In the past, we had been fed with stories of how cabals have prevented Nigerians from enjoying electricity supply, cases of sabotage, how Nigerians can only enjoy electricity during the rainy season and several excuses for failing to achieve different targeted dates of production of power.
Of concern to many Nigerians is the corruption, extortion, bribery, kickbacks and related vices that go on at the power distribution companies (DISCOs) which were previously owned by the government. Though with a regulator in the name of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerians are still at the mercy of DISCOs who exploit citizens despite warning bites by NERC, public discussion fora and complaints.
One, the issue of prepaid meters is an indictment on DISCOs because it still achieves the fundamental objective of the old meters which is measurement. The anomalies that were rife with the old meters necessitated the prepaid meters be introduced but despite this, Nigerians are still being exploited. In the first instance, Nigerians paying for prepaid meters is a rip-off because meters are tools the companies use in measuring the electricity consumed by customers. It is akin to telecommunications providers requiring consumers to pay for the billing systems they make use of or pay for towers used in providing services to us. Even when one pays, it takes longer than the stipulated time for the metres to arrive and consumers are required to pay for (outrageous) bills accrued to the DISCOs. Even when buildings are disconnected from supply, DISCOs still bring bills. The question is, how do you bill consumers without any adequate and fair means of measurement? This definitely provides a leeway for fraudulent charges.
Two, in maintaining their facilities, DISCOs have been found wanting in their lack of care or negligence in performing their duties. This starts from their staff who are keen to disconnecting lines of defaulting customers rather than paying attention to deficiencies noticed in their equipment. In some instances, citizens are asked to pay for transformers or other illegal fees before restoring electricity supply to some areas. If you go through the dailies or listen to Nigerians who report community issues on the media, it is a common occurrence to read and hear of complaints about the negligence of DISCOs in maintaining their equipment. Eventually, when mishap occurs, Nigerians lose lives to electrocution as a result of negligence.
Based on the current framework, the Nigerian government is a regulator in the power sector but not much succour has come to citizens through the regulator. It is high time the government looked at the operational inefficiencies of DISCOs that have caused Nigerians hardship. One of the core functions of government is to provide social amenities for its citizens, amongst which is provision of (constant) electricity supply – power has a multiplier effect on the economy. The president has harped on justice and fairness in his various interviews. There is more to electricity supply than President Buhari’s body language. The current situation appears like that of DISCOs paying lip service whilst illegally bunkering Nigerians’ drinks with the same lips.
This is a call for this government to cleanse this sector and rid it of malpractices.
Mustafa Yusuf-Adebola
