Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), has launched a broader initiative to achieve its core mandate of ensuring electricity reliability, efficiency while also ensuring that the administration of Nigeria’s electricity market is done in the most transparent manner that will ensure trust and drive growth for the power sector across the various value chains.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Agency,Engr. Abdu Mohammed Bello, stated this during a media engagement with energy editors from across print, broadcast and online media platforms on thursday.
Critical stakeholders from within the power sector which include distribution companies, transmission companies and others also attended the engagement.
The MD also called for robust reportage to drive growth in the nation’s power sector.
Bello, during the interaction decried the growing misrepresentation of facts and media reportage of developments within the Nigerian power sector noting that such misrepresentation of facts do not only demarket the sector but also create trust deficit amongst stakeholders.
While acknowledging that inaccurate reportage of the sector by some journalists may not be deliberate, he noted that findings have shown that some of the gaps may not be unconnected with lack of clear understanding of the workings of the sector by some of the media officers who cover the beat.
The MD said the media engagement was carefully put together to forge a partnership that will birth accurate reporting of the power sector based on facts and variable data.
The partnership according Bello is not going to be a one-off engagement but one that would be sustained and built in trust on behalf of citizens.
Key resolutions reached at thursday’s parley include the need to draft a schedule that would provide the platform for a quarterly engagement between niso, media, and other stakeholders including a promise by the niso team to respond timely when certain information are required by media officers in the cause of doing their work.
The Nigerian independent systems operator was birthed in 2023 following the passage of the electricity act of 2023 which unbundled the transmission company of Nigeria into two separate entities, NISO and TSP, the transmission service provider.