Warns Discos to brace up or lose licences

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The federal government is considering a proposal to take over power supply from the distribution companies (Discos) and hand it over to a German firm, Siemens.

It warned wednesday that it could no longer tolerate the shoddy performance of the Discos, which has undermined its efforts at ensuring stable supply of electricity.

Should the proposal be approved, Siemens will fully take charge of power generation, transmission and distribution.

Briefing reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House thursday, the Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, said whereas Nigeria currently generates 13,000 megawatts of electricity, it transmits 7,000 to Discos while the distribution companies can only distribute 3,000 megawatts to end users.

According to him, the Discos have continued to demonstrate a show of incapacity, inefficiency and dishonesty in the distribution of power to consumers despite the huge investments made into the sector by the federal government since the privatisation of the power sector in 2013.

The minister regretted that even when the discos receive 3,000 megawatts, they shortchange the system by paying for only 1,000 megawatts, threatening that the federal government could no longer continue to subsidise their inefficiency.

“Government cannot continue subsidising. If they are ready to continue, fine. If not, give chance to those who are ready,” Mamman stated.

The minister said the proposal to hand over power distribution to Siemens was contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that he submitted to the council yesterday.

The minister’s memorandum, which FEC admitted yesterday, would be deliberated upon soon and if approved, the Discos will be out of business.

The minister only stopped short of saying that the privatisation arrangement embarked upon by the federal government in 2013 with the intention of ending the power supply crisis, has failed.

He said: “What I want to say is that most of the problems we are facing in this country is that we cannot get electricity supplied adequately and efficiently and this is because we have a problem in distribution. On generation, there is no more problem. We can generate up to 13,006 megawatts but the transmission, those who are taking the electricity supply can only take 7,000 megawatts; even at that, they are not taking the whole 7,000 megawatts but only 4,500 megawatts and then send for distribution. The distribution (Discos) in turn receives only 3,000 megawatts. Because of technical and commercial reasons, they cannot contain the whole power that has been generated.

“So, we have to correct the infrastructure. That is why I said that today (yesterday), I submitted my observation to council and I believe the government is on it. One of the things I will tell you is that government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the German company, Siemens.

“They are to align between distribution and transmission and also generation, so that at the end of the day, if we generate 13,000 megawatts, transmission will take the whole 13,000 and will distribute same. That way, Nigerians will be happy and everyone will have 24/7 electricity supply.”

On January 23, 2020, the federal government, at the end of the monthly National Economic Council (NEC), had said it had so far spent N1.7 trillion on the power sector without any commensurate output.

“That is what we are saying. Government cannot continue to subsidise because what they are doing is that they collect 3,000 megawatts and pay for only 1,000 megawatts. That is 15 per cent of what they are collecting. So, government is the one completing the payment.

“So, we cannot continue like that. If they are ready to continue, fine but if they are not ready to continue, maybe they should give way to whoever that is ready to come and invest. So, we are asking the government to review and see if they are capable, fine; but if they are not capable, they should give way,” he said.

In his own briefing, the Minister of State for Works, Abubakar Aliyu, said the council also approved a memorandum to increase the contract cost for the construction of Benin-Akure Road from the earlier N3.297 billion to N4,770,188,497 billion.

He said the contract, which was awarded in 2013 by the former administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was inherited by the current government.

“We presented a memo to the council today (yesterday), which is an augmentation of an ongoing project. It is a road project from Benin-Adumagbe-Igba-Akure Road in Edo and Ondo States.The contract was awarded in December 2013, meaning we have inherited the project, and as you all know, it’s the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to continue and complete all ongoing projects.

“This project was stopped for sometime for lack of funding. Now, that the contractor wants to continue, the bill has to be reviewed. We have reviewed the contract from the original sum of N3,297,221,221.90 to N4,770,188,497, inclusive of VAT and tax, an increase of about N1.48 billion.

“It was further reviewed down through the processes of going to BPP to the total sum of N4,770,189,493,” he said.

Also briefing, the Minister of Water Resources, Malam Suleiman Adamu, said the council approved a memorandum of understanding that he presented, seeking to raise an earlier contract sum of N3.263 billion for the execution of Shonga irritation project in Kwara State to N10.18 billion.

He said the project, located between River Niger and River Benue basins, could serve 1,500 to 2,300 hectares of irrigation project.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/02/20/fg-mulls-handover-of-power-distribution-to-siemens/amp/

The issues arising

1. Siemens is not going to come in and charge bills below the production price , so bills go up. Siemens is also not coming to invest in Nigeria sans profit.

2. Discos will expect to be compensated for being forced out of the business for Siemens.

3. Expect higher bills, but improvement in power supply

Modified

Thanks for all the mentions. Have had some interesting discussions downthread,and for once, people are discussing without adverse language!

All the info I have about discos and gencos and power comes from several years of reading sparked by GEJ privatising power and issues I had getting a meter for my then place of residence (ended up still being on estimated till i moved house to a metered place!),and other life experiences

I have to go now, life calls. Thanks.

Modified deux

To be clear.

1. I do not work for the discos or Gencos.

2. I have never voted for PDP or APC, nor do I support Buhari, GEJ, or anyone of them

3. I am not benefiting in any way from the discos or gencos. As I write this, there is no light where i live and my generator is on.

4. To anyone who wishes to abuse me for my views, my views are mine. Having them won't affect your life in any way, so calm down

5.Most of my views come form reading . The internet makes things easy.

6. Electricity is not cheap.

That's what should have been done since. Give lagos and and Abuja to Seimens and the give Portharcourt and Kano and Onitsha to SGC of China and watch the game change

Gnaeusmagnus:
The issues arising

1. Siemens is not going to come in and charge bills below the production price , so bills go up. Siemens is also not coming to invest in Nigeria sans profit.

2. Discos will expect to be compensated for being forced out of the business for Siemens.

3. Expect higher bills, but improvement in power supply

I'll chose Siemens 1000 times because our own discos ain't serious

valarmorghulis:

I'll chose Siemens 1000 times because our own discos ain't serious

I'll do the same.

The problem is, are Nigerians ready to pay Siemens prices?

Instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

Gnaeusmagnus:
The issues arising

1. Siemens is not going to come in and charge bills below the production price , so bills go up. Siemens is also not coming to invest in Nigeria sans profit.

2. Discos will expect to be compensated for being forced out of the business for Siemens.

3. Expect higher bills, but improvement in power supply

Which higher bills , are we not spending more on power already ?

Do you know that the current thieving DISCOs charge most Nigerians for darkness intead of light ? Do you know Nigerians spend a fortune paying to run generators a day , I spend 100 times more on Generators than I spend of recharging my prepaid meter every year , if I could channel just half of what I spend on Feb to Siemens and they guarantee me 24 hours electricity then I will be fine

Flyingngel:
instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

The same state govts that have not been able to provide common pipeborne water for their states ? Are you aware that no state in Nigeria has potable pipe borne water supply to it's citizens ? Abi is water supply also in the exclusive list? With greedy men like Tinubu running DISCOs don't expect anything useful please , those men are born cheats and their joy comes from cheating others , such a person cannot solve problem s

FarahAideed:


Which higher bills , are we not spending more on power already ?

Do you know that the current thieving DISCOs charge most Nigerians for darkness intead of light ? Do you know Nigerians spend a fortune paying to run generators a day , I spend 100 times more on Generators than I spend of recharging my prepaid meter every year , if I could channel just half of what I spend on Feb to Siemens and they guarantee me 24 hours electricity then I will be fine

It is because discos are not being paid by most Nigerians that they put pressure on those of us that do pay, and that they don't have the cash to make the needed improvements.

We need something like 40000mw before we can see power 24/7 across the country. And it costs money. That's why power was privatised in the first place

The discos just proved no Nigerian indigenous company can manage big contracts.

Just look at our local road contractors, churning out half baked projects..

Abeg give siemens that deal and fvck how it turns out..

I believe the german group will deliver

:-

Gnaeusmagnus:
The issues arising

1. Siemens is not going to come in and charge bills below the production price , so bills go up. Siemens is also not coming to invest in Nigeria sans profit.

2. Discos will expect to be compensated for being forced out of the business for Siemens.

3. Expect higher bills, but improvement in power supply

It's better to be overcharged for what's always available than paying huge bills already for wats not on ground

If this will solve the headache, why not.

The present Discos are dancing disco with Nigerians and their intelligence.

Briefing reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House thursday, the Minister of Power, Mr. Saleh Mamman, said whereas Nigeria currently generates 13,000 megawatts of electricity, it transmits 7,000 to Discos while the distribution companies can only distribute 3,000 megawatts to end users.

The bolded caught my attention.

So, according to the lousy and talkative Minister, Nigeria generates 13,000 megawatts and are only able to transmit 7000 megawatts almost half the amount generated to Discos, while the Discos, in turn, are only able to distribute 3,000 megawatts, almost half of what was transmitted to them to end-users.

I'm seriously trying to make any sense of what gave the minister the right or moral compass to accuse others of what he is guilty of.

Mumu people, na only how to apportion blames and award bogus contracts to selves dem sabi.

Gnaeusmagnus:


It is because discos are not being paid by most Nigerians that they put pressure on those of us that do pay, and that they don't have the cash to make the needed improvements.

We need something like 40000mw before we can see power 24/7 across the country. And it costs money. That's why power was privatised in the first place

The current power setup is a total mess that shouldn't have been allowed to happen in the first place ... The problem starts from the DISCOs which make it deliberately very hard for customer to access prepaid meters because this will distort their sale of darkness Business model which estimated bills are used to drive , so the GENCOS generate electricity and wheel it to the DISCOS for distribution and the criminal DISCOS reject upto 70 percent accepting just about 30 percent which the use to bait customers to continue to pay the estimated bills which in reality is a bill for darkness not light , then here comes the crazy part , the useless Federal govt instead of forcing the DISCOSs to deploy prepaid meters and ban estimated bills , an action which will force DISCOS to accept more power from the GENCOS , instead the useless govt decides to pay GENCOS for any electricity the DISCOs reject and this action cost the govt almost a trillion naira annually , why should the govt spend so much on electricity that wasn't utililised in the first place ? The corruption in the power industry bin Nigeria is mind boggling

I dey laf Una. The way Trump go face una for ditching general electric ena go iam

princemillla:



It's better to be overcharged for what's always available than paying huge bills already for that's not on ground

aswear down, who no go pay if e dey see improved power supply.

Nigeria thieves VS German thieves...





Na common man go suffer am

Flyingngel:
Instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

This would be the best option but because they are either bereft of ideas, selfish and parochial in their thoughts it won't happen.

Resource control will make every state know how much it has, how much it can borrow and then make informed decision as to who to engage to solve their electricity issue.

This would also help regions to come together and use their comparative advantage to solve electricity issues. Eg the SW can easily engage Siemens while the MB can engage another electricity Coy to sort out their needs. Excesses electricity can then be sold to regions/states that may need it instead of engaging another firm.

Every state can produce electricity. wind, water/dams all over, and sun can be used. ND use their gas and coal is even an option.

If only this'll be actualised tomorrow.

it should be done asap. germany should manage our power sector. uk-education. us-army. france-health sector. transpotation -japan. civil service-canada. judiciary- holand. ecomony-swiss. police-israel

From All of us at we wish to commend our darling daddy Buhari for turning Amotekun into AmoteLizard

Flyingngel:
Instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

hmmmm,smart move ,those slowpoke won't do that , because it will take away some idiots source of syphoning of public funds in the name of repairs

;

joyandfaith:
it should be done asap. germany should manage our power sector. uk-education. us-army. france-health sector. transpotation -japan. civil service-canada. judiciary- holand. ecomony-swiss. police-israel

FarahAideed:


The current power setup is a total mess that shouldn't have been allowed to happen in the first place ... The problem starts from the DISCOs which make it deliberately very hard for customer to access prepaid meters because this will distort their sale of darkness Business model which estimated bills are used to drive , so the GENCOS generate electricity and wheel it to the DISCOS for distribution and the criminal DISCOS reject upto 70 percent accepting just about 30 percent which the use to bait customers to continue to pay the estimated bills which in reality is a bill for darkness not light , then here comes the crazy part , the useless Federal govt instead of forcing the DISCOSs to deploy prepaid meters and ban estimated bills , an action which will force DISCOS to accept more power from the GENCOS , instead the useless govt decides to pay GENCOS for any electricity the DISCOs reject and this action cost the govt almost a trillion naira annually , why should the govt spend so much on electricity that wasn't utililised in the first place ? The corruption in the power industry bin Nigeria is mind boggling

@ bolded ,where were you last year ,when house of rep,passed a motion preventing the energy customers from paying for any electricity bill,unless giving a prepaid meters?

niyidenrele:
@ bolded ,where were you last year ,when house of rep,passed a motion preventing the energy customers from paying for any electricity bill,unless giving a prepaid meters?

Is house of reps the useless executive?

The Discos can deliver if electricity bill is deregulated. Right now the FG sets the price per kilowatt- and like buffoons, set it at a rate they know is below the minimum needed to generate profit.

F

Flyingngel:
Instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

I believe the current law doesnt stop the state governments from doing that. But Which state has the financial capacity to build a brand new transmission network? To disconnect from the national grid, the state needs to first build power generation and transmission infrastructure.

Gnaeusmagnus:


I'll do the same.

The problem is, are Nigerians ready to pay Siemens prices?

that is another hurdle to jump.

Flyingngel:
Instead of them to remove power from exclusive list to concurrent list so that state government can generate and distribute their power, if they have excess they sell to the neighboring state.

State governments that cannot provide common good roads or standard school can never generate electricity.
The states are the biggest problem of Nigeria.. Too unproductive..

obailala:
I believe the current law doesnt stop the state governments from doing that. But Which state has the financial capacity to build a brand new transmission network? To disconnect from the national grid, the state needs to first build power generation and transmission infrastructure.

there are states in the south and few in the north that can do that with no sweat .the problem is greed and corruption.

If a good government want to do it,they will do it.