Speech of Minister of Power, Fashola at Lafia Monthly Meeting

I will like to start this my remarks by highlighting the Progress and milestones on our journey for incremental power which reassure us that we are on the right path and inspire us to continue with more belief.

Those milestones are represented by:

a. Generated power has gone up to 7000 MW in 2017 from 3,000 MW in May 2015

b. Transmission Capacity at 6900MW in 2017 from about 5,000 MW in May 2015

c. Peak Distribution now averaging 5,000 MW in 2017 from 2,690MW in 2015.

That said I will like to thank all of you for your contributions towards these milestones.

The reason I thank you is because you are impacting the lives of Nigerians, you are saving them money and changing their lifestyles for the better.

They tell me that their consumption of diesel and petrol to run generators for power has reduced and the hours they run their generators has gradually reduced.

This is the result of incremental power and we must get more of it.

They also tell me that they are now monitoring how they use power and are turning off appliances that are not needed.

Although this is meant to save costs, it also conserves energy, reduces waste and supports incremental power.

In the last 3 months we have increased the supply of power in the dry weather and people’s experience with power was better.

We must thank the Ministry of Petroleum Resources for the increase in gas supply .

The cynics who used to say that it is only during the rains that power improves now see that what we have done is no fluke.

Apart from Gas other stakeholders are also taking commendable steps.

A few months ago the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) formally presented the Mini Grid Regulations at this meeting and its impact is beginning to manifest.

Last month in Abuja, Nigeria through the Rural Electrification Agency hosted a Mini Grids Summit that is the largest ever attended in Africa with 600 participants from about 40 Countries.

The word is spreading around the world as mini grids will help us connect more people and boost incremental power.

We are also putting together a policy position to help expand the distribution network of the DisCos and use this to distribute the 2000MW that is currently available but cannot be distributed.

I also use the opportunity to call out to Manufacurers to let us know where they are, how much power they need, and how we can connect you because we have 2000 MW of undistributed power.

This year we should work harder to increase our people’s access to meters and reduce the incidents of estimated billing as NERC concludes the Meter Regulations that will open up the meters supply and installation business.

In the first few days of the new year we suffered a set back to our power supply which was caused by damage to the gas supply network around Okada.

First, I want to repeat that gas is the fuel that most of the generation companies use to produce electricity and all of us have a stake in ensuring that they are not damaged.

Secondly, I am happy to inform Nigerians that as at last night the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) informed us that repairs have been completed. We thank and commend them for their response.

Thirdly, what remains is to test the lines and restore pressure and supply to the generation companies.

One by one all the stakeholders from GenCos, TCN and DisCos will work to restore supply to the levels they were before the pipeline damage.

From there we will continue our journey of incremental power.

I wish you all a happy new year.

Babatunde Raji Fashola

POSTED BY AMT TANIMU
A.M Tanimu is an Online Editor with Africa’s Largest TV Network. With a decade experience in Television journalism, and a graduate of University of Maiduguri. Tanimu also produces TV shows with NTA when not on Social media.