Darkness looms in Nigeria as FG disconnects Discos from national grid over massi…

• The Federal Government has begun a massive disconnection of debtor electricity distribution companies from the national grid.
• The enforcement of this move is due to a massive debt that the DisCos are owing to the Federal Government.
• As a result, millions of Nigerians may be plunged into darkness in the coming weeks.

The Federal Government has commenced a massive disconnection of some electricity distribution companies (DisCos) from the national grid following their growing debt.

This move comes after the government’s repeated warnings to the DisCos to pay their outstanding debts. Unfortunately, the companies failed to heed these warnings, resulting in the government taking a drastic step to address the situation.

As a result, millions of Nigerians may be plunged into darkness in the coming weeks as the FG takes a firm stance against the country’s defaulting electricity distribution companies.

According to Punch, the defaulting DisCos include Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electric, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.

Others are Ikeja Electric, Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, APL Electric Company Aba, and Jos Electricity Distribution Company.

Two GenCos – Paras Energy and Niger Delta Power Holding Company plants are listed among the debtors.

The Federal Government will be enforcing this directive through the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Market Operator.

Poor remittances by customers responsible for debt

Speaking in a statement informing customers of the mass disconnection, IBEDC Managing Director/CEO, Kingsley Achife blamed the debt on poor remittances by customers.

He said:

As a revenue collection arm of the electricity value chain, IBEDC sells and distributes electricity generated by the generation companies. However, the company is unable to meet its financial obligations to the electricity value chain due to poor payment and huge outstanding bills by customers.

We appeal to our esteemed customers to pay their current and outstanding bills to enable IBEDC to meet its obligations to the Market Operator and other parties in the electricity supply industry to ensure continuous and uninterrupted power supply.

Achife urge customers to ensure prompt payment of current and outstanding electricity bills to avoid disruption of power supply.

Nigerians Lament Poor Electricity Supply

In an earlier story, Legit.ng reported that many Nigerians have continued to lament the poor state of electricity in the country.

According to the report, even though a few areas had started to enjoy some significant improvement in power supply, majority were still subjected to epileptic supply and can only account for not more than 3-4 hours of supply every day.

One respondent told Legit.ng that the situation has become unbearable as he never gets to have light whenever he gets home from work and has had to rely on buying petrol to use his generator.

Another respondent said that he had to resort to installing an inverter after waiting helplessly for the situation to improve.

Source: Legit.ng