Epileptic Power Supply: Group Urges FG To Revoke licenses of DISCOs

The Federal Government has been called upon to as a matter of urgency, revoke the licenses of Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in the country.

The Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF) which made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, after their strategic general meeting, said it has become glaring that the privatisation of power in the country by Goodluck Jonathan administration was a “huge hoax and scam”.

The group in the statement signed by its national president, Dede Uzor A. Uzor, expressed shock that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Muhammadu Buhari Government still allowed the arrangement to continue nearly eight years after it took over the reins of power.

The group alleged that there is nothing electricity distribution companies provide for Nigeria except to exploit Nigerians by charging exorbitant bills and manipulated prepaid billing system.

“The DISCOs of late,” they said, “have introduced fast reading metres by replacing the old ones, while they have bluntly refused to metre those people who are still in estimated billings so that they can continue to exploit them because there’s no difference between their criminal exploited activities and the so-called privatisation which came onboard years ago.”

They lamented that in the face of all these high charges, the services are abysmally and criminally poor.

The group said; “Consumers have continued to bear the brunt of replacing packed up transformers, damaged parts and pay for the services rendered by staff or agents of DISCOs under duress and exploitations

“In the face of all this, the services are still abysmally poor. There is load shading and sometimes, there would be no light for several days, weeks and months due minor faults.

“The DISCOs have become conduit pipe and an avenue through which consumers are being exploited by privileged few who bought over the companies from Federal Government in the name of privatisation through estimated and crazy bills without providing light.”

They specifically accused EEDC of corruptive distribution of power and load shading in some commercial and residential areas in South East especially in Fegge area of Onitsha.

NUF called for immediate overhaul of power system in Nigeria and removal of feeder mangers, managers, distribution managers, sectional heads and others involved in contributing to poor power supply in Onitsha and the entire South East.

The group called on the Federal Government to develop other sources of generating power such as solar as well as allow companies, organisations and individuals who can generate their own power to do so and distribute without facing unnecessary bottleneck from the system.

These, NUF said, would help provide regular power supply and crash the cost of power in the country like that of telecommunication, lamenting that the DISCOs as presently constituted, enjoy monopoly even more than what was obtained in the past before the privatisation.

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