Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Power on Tuesday directed the Power Ministry to take concrete actions aimed at solving the current nationwide blackout instead of the continued silence mentioned by the Ministry.
The lawmakers led by the Committee Chairman, Hon. Magaji Da’u Aliyu lamented the seeming lackadaisical and theoretical approach of the Ministry towards power issues each time there is a national emergency.
The Permanent Secretary in the Minister, Nebolisa Anoka who represented the Minister, Muazu Aliyu had made a long presentation to the Committee which its Chairman stated there is nothing to show that the Ministry was solving the problems.
Anoka had enumerated in chronological order the challenges facing the sector, ranging from low gas supply, low hydro levels, high cost of gas, as well as disequilibrium between power generation, transmission and distribution which led to the collapse of the national grid and what the Ministry has been doing to salvage the situation.
He explained that in response to the serious challenges facing power generation, the Ministry of Power recently hosted an emergency meeting with key stakeholders in the gas-to-power value chain, during which far reaching resolutions were arrived at on key measures needed to ameliorate the situation.
According to him, the challenges “are not entirely predictable, but actions are being taken by the Federal Ministry of Power and other partner government MDAs to alleviate the challenges to the supply of electricity sustainability”.
He pointed out the issue of the right of way as stalling key transmission projects, assuring that the Ministry will increase sources of supply through renewable, with a target of 30 percent generation through renewable by 2030.
Reacting to the presentation, Hon. Magaji said: “There is nothing to show in this presentation that you are trying to resolve the problems. It is a mere speech and thesis and my heart bleeds for this country.”
Da’u who earlier explained that the special interactive session was necessitated by the fact that Nigerians were facing the worst energy crisis in recent times, added that “the situation has affected businesses, both small and large, which is attracting huge public outcry”, he said, adding that Nigerians need urgent solution to the problem.
“There is nothing on ground to show that there will be light or generation of up to 5000 megawatts, but we keep hearing about 30,000 megawatts of installed capacity across the power stations,” he said.
One after another, lawmakers who spoke, lamented the unending projections by the Ministry that have never come to fruition. They accused the Ministry and managers of the power sector of deliberate conspiracy and sabotage to discredit the current administration.