President Muhammadu Buhari has suspended the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Power Assistance Fund, CBN PAF, which was specifically targeted at supporting tariff shortfalls.
He said that such interventions can no longer be extended and must be phased out to promote the sectors financial independence.
The president however, assured that the Federal Government has initiated policies that will fully address the liquidity challenges of the power sector which he admitted has grave consequences for investors.
Buhari, who gave the assurance in Lagos on Thursday while commissioning the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Center- Distribution Management System, SCADA-DMSC, by Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, said that Government has escalated intervention initiatives for the sector, because the increased fiscal burden on the Federal Government especially occasioned by the tariff shortfalls in the sector are no longer sustainable.
Buhari, who was represented at the occasion by the Minister of Power, Engr. Saleh Mamman,,said the present administrations effort through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Power Assistance Fund, CBN PAF, was specifically targeted at supporting tariff shortfalls but added that such interventions can no longer be extended and must be phased out to promote the sectors financial independence.
The president also noted that these tariff shortfalls sit on the Distribution Companies, DisCos books and impair their ability to raise capital and invest.
According to to him, “The Federal Government is working assiduously to address these financial and fiscal challenges through various programmes such as the National Mass Metering Programme, NMMP, the Siemens AG Power Project and the World Bank Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, DISREP, etc”
These efforts Buhari said, are geared towards integrated resource planning in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, and that Government will ensure that there is alignment of capacity and attraction of investments across the generation, transmission and distribution components of the power sectors value chain.
He said in ongoing efforts to address challenges Of the critical power Infrastructure in the country, Government through the Ministry Of Power, has inaugurated several projects.
Buharlisted some of them to include, the recently commissioned 150MVA 330/132KV, Kumbotso transmission substation, the construction of a 132/33KV transmission substation At Kabba, Kogi State and the commissioning of the 132KV Katampe- National Stadium transmuting project and the new 330/132/33KV substation at new Apo, Abuja.
Earlier, chairman Of EKEDC, Charles Momoh, said the project is the firms determined effort to improve operational efficiency, revenue generation and reduction of ATC&C.
Momoh, said EKEDC, has implemented the SCADA project to automate its electric power distribution network across its franchise coverage area.
