Managing director of the NEMSA, Mr. Aliyu Tukur Tahir, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NEMSA) has asked owners of power utility firms in the country to increase their maintenance schedules for power plants, transmission and distribution stations in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI) to improve power delivery.
Tahir made the directive while speaking to newsmen in an interview in Abuja. According to him, regular maintenance work on power installations is vital for the improvement power utilities.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had activated a partial contract-based electricity market on July 1, prompting all firms to increase their performance or face sanctions.
Five of the 11 distribution companies (DisCos) have been restructured and joined the Abuja DisCo, which got a new management in December 2021.
Since then, observers say, consumers in Abuja have observed a relative improvement in power supply since last month. Tahir said to further drive the partial contract electricity market, the network required routine and regular maintenance to ensure reliable and efficient supply of power to consumers.
The NEMSA boss described the current power situation in the country as momentary, especially when certified power infrastructures are maintained regularly and the utility companies make the necessary investments to upgrade the networks.
Tahir urged owners of power utilities to implement fully the performance contract agreement to improve power supply in Nigeria, stressing that the partial activation of contracts between the operators in the sector and the federal government was already yielding results.
“The federal government is committed to ensuring that there is reliable and sustainable power supply all year round if the necessary maintenance work and quality upgrades are sustained by owners of electrical utility companies, especially at this time when small and medium enterprises are springing up daily within rural and urban centres,” Tahir explained.
NEMSA is a strategic agency of the government, established to be the technical umpire in the Nigerian power sector, ensuring that all power installations meet technical standards. The agency engages in routine inspection, testing and certification by a team of its engineers mandated to carry out technical compliance levels on safety standards before certification.
Tahir emphasised that the agency had zero tolerance for sub-standard practice in the industry.
“All electrical installations must meet the statutory requirements before certification,” he said, citing “risk and danger in the lives of people as chief reasons for non-compromise.”
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