By our correspondent
Minister of Power, Engineer Sale Mamman has denied submitting a proposal to Federal Executive Council (FEC) to hand over electricity distribution to Siemens.
In a statement, his Special Assistant, Media and Communications, Mr Aaron Artimas, said that the issue of handover was not part of the agreement signed between the German company and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“So, we have submitted our proposal to the government on the problem of distribution and it is left to them to decide what to do. The other thing I can tell you is that the government only signed a memorandum of understanding with the German company, Siemens, on how to leverage generation with transmission and distribution” the statement quoted the minister as saying.
The Minister explained that the government was concerned about the disproportion of the value chain and how to align this chain for optimum distribution of power.
“For instance, if we generate 13,000 megawatts, we should be able to transmit the whole 13,000mw and distribute same.
That way, Nigerians will be happy and everyone will have 24/7 of electricity.
The minister expressed regret that even when the discos receive 3,000 megawatts, they shortchange the system by paying for only 1,000 megawatts, adding that the federal government could no longer continue to subsidise their inefficiency”. he added.
Recall that on Wednesday, February 19, 2020, while briefing newsmen on the resolutions of the council, the minister was quoted as saying that a proposal has been forwarded to the council on how the distribution companies can be made efficient.
