Energy policy coming, says Fashola

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Power Minister Babatunde Fashola has pledged to unveil his energy policy when next he addresses the media. The policy will holistically show the direction of the government in solving the problems of the power sector in the short and long terms. He has also mandated the distribution companies to significantly improve service delivery.  The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has promised to make his energy policy public when next he briefs the media, and directed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to significantly improve electricity supply and customer service delivery.

Fashola said this during his second monthly meeting with operators in the electricity industry in Lagos. He said: “I will come to energy policy, much more later when I do my second press briefing. All of you in the media owe a bigger responsibility now to enlighten people. Everybody must know how power is produced, because the problem is still with us, gas, transmission, and the way the privatisation exercise was conducted. But I will not lament what has happened in the past, I will move with it.”
He continued: “When we took over and assessed the situation, nobody was happy with it. This is a problem that has been here for 16 years if you it put mildly, and 100 years ago, if you put it really extremely. I have been here for less than hundred days, and I think we can solve this problem if you give us the tools that we need to do it. I think this problem can be solved and the day I feel it cannot be solved, I will tell you I don’t think it will work.”
The minister said he reached an agreement with the DisCos to improve customer service delivery by strengthening the operations of their customer centres and providing dedicated phone numbers to ensure consumer complaints within their jurisdictions are promptly responded to.
The meeting, which holds every month, is meant to identify, discuss and find practical solutions to issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry. The Minister has set a goal of attaining at least 7,000megawatts (Mw) of electricity generation by end of this year. Although he has refused to make how to go about it public, but he has discussed with the operators.