Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the ongoing upgrade and investment in the power sector would improve electricity supply within the next three to six months.
He assured Nigerians that they are soon to enjoy stable electricity, when he paid a working visit to Ikeja Electric and some ongoing projects in Maryland and Alausa substations on Thursday in Lagos.
Adelabu said the upgrading of some substations in Lagos by Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had commenced on 30 MVA transformers to 100 MVA and 205 MVA in Maryland and Alausa, respectively.
The minister maintained that the federal government’s position on the implementation of a cost reflective tariff for the power sector was inevitable.
He said that investment across Distribution Companies (DisCos) was low due to the unavailability of funds to carry out infrastructure upgrades, appealing to the companies to ensure good service delivery to justify tariff review.
He also bemoaned the rising cases of vandalism of power assets across the country, recommending capital punishment for vandals.
Adelabu said; “We need scapegoats. We are ready to give them the right punishment in terms of prosecution. Punishment for vandals should go beyond a six-month jail term. Capital punishment should be meted out for power vandals. They kill people, and they kill businesses”.
The power minister added that all hands must be on deck among operators within the power sector value chain. He said it remained worrisome that the country with an installed capacity of 13,000MW was generating a paltry 5,000MW.
He said; ”Going forward, efforts will now be concentrated on development and infrastructure upgrade from DisCos to GenCos and then transmission.
“If we get it right at the DisCo level, then we are most certain that we are almost getting there. The meeting is planned, not accidental. You have made landmark achievements in the last 10 years.
“You have done well in relation to other DisCos. We can just shake your hands and leave, but they said the biggest room is the room for improvement.
“You are a model DisCo, the biggest in terms of revenue collection. I don’t know the one that is bigger between you and Ibadan DisCo, in terms of industrial clusters, because I am aware there are a lot of industries within your catchment areas”.