Yemisi Izuora
For effective deployment of energy infrastructure across Nigerian communities, Energy Commissioners have called for a clear definition of engagement terms between the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and State Governors going forward.
They called on the Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) Secretariat to develop terms of engagement between States and the REA to foster greater collaboration and effective implementation of REA programmes and projects in States.
They also recommended that States should develop their rural electrification and clean energy policies and laws that would improve energy access and affordability for rural, unserved and underserved communities.
The call formed part of recommendations by Commissioners of Power and Energy in Nigeria, during a two-day meeting from 25th and 26th November 2024, in Lagos.
The meeting was aimed at strengthening collaboration, capacity building and institutionalizing a peer review mechanism amongst States for actualizing sub-national electricity markets and achieving universal access to electricity at the sub-national level.
The Forum commits to working together to enhance coordination among federal, state, and local governments on energy development issues, and address challenges revolving around State electricity markets to promote a coordinated approach to energy development in Nigeria.
The Commissioners also recommits to develop and implement effective sub-national policies and regulations to promote sustainable energy development and attract private sector investment in the energy sector at sub-national levels.
During the meeting they condemned rising cases of energy theft (meter tampering and bypass, transformer oil theft, wire and cable theft, unauthorized wire connections, etc.) and vandalism( wire and cable cutting, pole, tower and transformer destruction) of electricity infrastructure across the country and recommends that these actions should be viewed as acts of economic sabotage.
As a way forward the meeting recommended that State Electricity Laws must expressly criminalize such acts with serious sanctions and penalties, including jailtime for offenders and perpetrators and establishment of Energy Theft Tribunal in every State to handle the prosecution of power theft and vandalism.
There should be gender balance in the appointment of representatives in state electricity regulatory commissions and/or institutions related to the power sector, they urged and emphasized the need for the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC ) and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE ) to resolve the issue of States equity shares in DisCos and hence.
The NERC was also asked to conclude the valuation of State’s assets in Discos, with the NGF leading an independent valuation of assets concerning the State in DisCos.
The Commissioners expressed preference for the domestication of State equity within unbundled State Disco subsidiaries (SubCos), rather than the Discos Holdcos, while the NERC should mandate all DisCos to commence unbundling and creation of SubCos along State boundaries forthwith and immediately.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, they resolved that electricity subsidies should not be encouraged but recognized that there might be circumstances and categories of customers within States that may require some form of subsidy from the Federal Government, and which should be determined on a state-by-state basis.
The Forum notes that the constant collapse of the national grid is a serious issue requiring urgent national attention and aligns itself with the decision of the National Economic Council (NEC) to engage with sub-national governments and subnational structures to immediately address the remote and immediate causes, while seeking lasting solutions to the challenges facing the national grid.
There was also a resolution that States should prioritize the development of electricity generation and electricity transmission infrastructure within their territories, to complement the national grid.
