Power investors assure stable electricity as 5 firms draw N18bn from CBN facility

Power investors are reassuring consumers again that they would as quickly as possible strive to restore power stability especially as they finally begin to draw on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N213 billion Nigerian Electricity Stabilisation Facility which was officially flagged off in Abuja on Monday. Two power distribution companies, Eko Electricity and Ibadan Electricity, and three generating firms, Jebba Hydroelectric, Kainji Hydroelectric and Shiroro Hydroelectric Plc, have al- ready received a total of N18.26 billion from the fund which sets to address recent shortfalls in power sector revenues caused by needed adjustments in the electricity tariff and legacy gas debts. The facility comes with 10 percent interest rate and will be paid back over ten years which is the lifetime of a reset electricity tariff, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, said. While Eko Electricity Distribution Company and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Plc got N5.164 billion and N11.36 billion, respectively; Jebba Hydroelectric Plc, Kainji Hydroelectric Plc and Shiroro Hydrelectric Plc received N816.83 million, N234.815 and N678.650 mil- lion, respectively. These five companies are first set of power companies that have met all the requirements to draw on the stabilisation facility which the CBN is providing in partnership with the banking sector. Emefiele noted that the facility is to kick-start the electricity market in a way that ensures that the sector delivers tangible improvement in power supply for all Nigerians. “We see this facility as a major initiative to reset the economics of the power sec- tor,” he stated at the signing event that also had Chinedu Nebo, minister of power, present as well as Wole Abegunde, managing director, MERISTEM, the administrator to the CBN fund. At the event, Emefiele passionately appealed to the Discos and Gencos that will be benefitting to ensure the monies they receive are used for what they are meant for and also repaid as at when due. “In exchange for this intervention, we fully expect parties that are collecting these funds today to ensure that the funds are repaid as and when due; ensure that all inputs into the generation of power are ramped up in a consistent manner.”