Is President Olusegun Obasanjo's proposed National Dialogue the way forward for Nigeria?
House Passes Power Sector Reform Bill
From Ahamefula Ogbu and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, 12.15.2004
The House of Representatives yesterday passed the Electricity Power Sector Reform Bill (EPSR). The bill has been regarded as the last hurdle towards a wholesome cleansing and reformation of the country's electricity sector. The Bill, which is intended to give legal backing to government's reform programme already in its early stages of implementation, had all the 102 clauses passed by the House with minor amendments after due consideration. Chairman of the House Committee on Power, Hon. Abdullahi Umar presented the report on the Bill to the House which dissolved into a committee of the whole House to consider the Bill before returning to plenary session to adopt the report. The Bill seeks amongst other measures, to facilitate the establishment of an independent electricity regulatory commission and the unbundling of the various units of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA). The Electric Power Sector Act will enable the establishment of a rural electricity agency and setting up of fund to increase rural access to electricity industry by funding projects and providing assistance to low income electricity consumers. It will also crystalise the privatization of business units that would emerge from the unbundling of NEPA. Already various units of NEPA, the Distribution, Transmission and recently the Generation sub-sector have been unbundled in anticipation of the passage of the Bill by the National Assembly. Authorities in the power sector have at various fora voiced out their concern over delays in the passage of the Bill, saying the slow passage is almost constituting a stumbling block to the actualization of the FG's aspiration for a virile energy sector. Reform of the electricity industry is predicated on FG's National Electric Power Policy and enabling legislation which sees improvement in electricity supply and services via private sector participation as impossible without necessary reforms. Apart from encouraging private involvement, the reform will attract more funds to the sector. Minister of Power and Steel, Senator Liyel Imoke indicated at a recent function, that as soon as the Bill was passed, NEPA would in the coming year, adopt a Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) that will provide comfort to investors by ensuring that tariffs are indexed to changes in non-controllable costs and thus guaranteeing real return on investments. In the last one year, authorities at NEPA has undertaken to refocus its attention towards building up gas-powered generation facilities in a bid to check the perennial power disruptions caused by water fluctuations in the Hydro plants. It said the project when completed would strengthen its capacity to deliver power supply better and more efficiently to consumers. Some of the new projects include the four thermal stations estimated to cost N200 billion sited at Geregu (Kogi), Al-Oji (Abia), Papalanto (ogun) and Omotosho (Ondo. The stations are expected to be ready by 2006 and will increase generation capacity to about 6,500 mw
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