By Abdulfatah Babatunde
A faith-based organisation, The Muslim Congress TMC), has called on the Federal Government to urgently address the worsening electricity crisis in the country.
TheNewsZenith reports that the TMC Committee on Social Mobility, the Economy & Politics, gave the advice in its 26th series of “State of The Nation Address” on Saturday in Lagos.
Presenting the address to newsmen in Lagos, the Committee’s Chair, Alhaji Abdul Wasi’i Bangbala, said the call became necessary, to ensure a reliable power supply for the citizenry. Stable power, Bangbala added, will also promote economic development.
“’The Nigerian power sector is facing a severe crisis with frequent electricity outages, grid collapses and blame games among stakeholders.
“This has led to economic hardships and security threats.
“Some key issues attributed to the power crisis include gas supply shortages, vandalism, maintenance problems and energy theft.
“It is unfortunate that despite efforts to reform the sector since the unbundling of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), power generation remains low.
“This, therefore, necessitates urgent comprehensive reforms for sustainable and reliable electricity supply,” the committee noted.
According to TMC, the challenges in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) call for experienced operators through a transparent privatisation process to enhance transmission capacity.
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“The ineffective enforcement of threats to revoke licenses of underperforming Distribution Companies (DisCos) underscores governance challenges.
“This, thus provides grounds for contract reviews and possible terminations for non-compliance to improve sector efficiency.”
It observed that with Nigeria’s stagnant electricity generation capacity.
“The need for alternative energy sources, investments in hydro, coal and renewable energy were essential for the sector’s improvement.
“Though the crisis in the power sector is acute, there should be a more coherent plan to mitigate the challenges beyond hiking the tariffs.
“We, therefore, call on President Tinubu-led administration and key stakeholders, to take all necessary steps to address the worsening electricity crisis.
“They should bring about a reliable power supply for all citizens and thereby promote economic development,” Bangbala said.
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