The Federal Government has flagged off the process of unbundling 11 electricity distribution companies to pitch them up for efficiency. This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, in his address, while playing host to the Senate Committee on Power, led by their Chairman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, in Abuja on Monday.
Adelabu stated that the privatisation of the firms would not be reversed, but stressed that the Discos would be broken into more efficient structures along state lines to be able to deliver on their mandates. He also revealed that over 100 projects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria have not been completed since 2001, a period of about 23 years. Adelabu said, “We are unbundling the Discos along state lines. Some of the Discos are too big for efficiency. They are too big for effectiveness. Ibadan Disco covers seven states. It is practically impossible for them to be efficient.
“So we are rearranging and restructuring the Discos along state lines so that each state government will know the responsible Disco for their states. Also, the federal and state governments should start exercising their rights in the operation and management of the Discos because we still own 40 per cent in the firms. “But we have left it for the private sector operators for too long and they have messed it up. So the government must come back to take over its own right in the Discos. We are also planning to franchise the unserved communities under the Discos.”
This came as the Federal Government also ordered the sale of Discos that had been taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation from their original investors/owners. Currently, four Discos are under the management of banks and AMCON.
