The Senate is seeking to ban electricity generating sets in the country and is proposing 10 years imprisonment for importers of generating sets.
This is contained in a bill sponsored by Bima Enagi (Niger South), which passed first reading in the Senate on Wednesday.
“All persons are hereby directed to stop the use of electricity generating sets which run on diesel/petrol/kerosene of all capacities with immediate effect in the country,” the bill stated.
The proposed ban is applicable to all types of generators, except for ones providing essential services such as in hospitals and other health facilities.
Analysts say the bill is a joke in a country where the Federal Government has yet to figure out a sustainable solution to the regular power outage that has bedevilled the country for decades now. Businesses and households rely on power generating sets to supply own power, which adds to their costs.
While power supply hovers around mere 3,000MW, Saleh Mamman, minister of power, recently threatened to dump the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) over epileptic power supply, blaming current situation on their inability to distribute stranded power.
“Nigeria currently generates 13,000MW of electricity, it transmits 7,000MW to DisCos while the distribution companies can only distribute 3,000MW to end users,” Sale said.
But in a response to the claim, Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED) argued that the statement by Saleh was untrue, saying the quantum of power that DisCos supply to their customers was based on the allocation they got from the TCN. It said TCN wheels a mere 4,303MW supplied to consumers.
It is amid this back and forth that the Senate is proposing to ban the use of generators.
“Anybody who imports generating sets, or 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,” the bill said.
According to the bill, generators used for “essential services include medical purposes (hospitals and nursing homes and healthcare facilities), airports and railway stations/services”.
Other essential services allowed to use generators are elevators, escalators, research institutions and some facilities that require 24-hour power supply.
Solomon Ayado, Abuja
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