The Federal government has vowed to resell all Distribution Companies (DisCos) still under acquisition of banks and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), to technical power operators within three months.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this when the Senate Committee on Power went on an oversight visit to the ministry in Abuja at the weekend.
Adelabu disclosed that soon, tough decisions would be taken on the DisCos, noting that they are the last lap of the sector.
“If they don’t perform, the entire sector is not performing. The entire ministry is not performing. We have put pressure on NERC – which is their regulator – to make sure they raise the bar on regulation activities,” he said.
According to Adelabu, if NERC has to withdraw licenses for non-performance, it should do that.
He added that if NERC had to change the board of management, for the DisCos to perform, they should do it.
“And all the DisCos that are still under AMCON and Banks, within the next three months, they must be sold to technical power operators with good reputations in utility management,” he said.
Reports quoted Adelabu as saying that government could no longer allow AMCON to run the DisCos.
“We can no longer afford the banks to run our DisCos. This is a technical industry and it must be run by technical experts,” he added.
