Why Discos’ Management And Main Investors Were Fired

The Federal Government has said that it fired six of the 11 energy distribution firms (DisCos)’ primary investors and management because they had failed the country.

Abubakar Aliu, the Minister of Power, said this yesterday in Abuja while making presentations at the 11th edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Scorecard. He claimed that the administration made this choice because of their appalling performance.

The six DisCos he mentioned were Abuja, Benin, Ibadan, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Kano. He also said that the other three, Ikeja, Eko, and Enugu, were doing extremely well.

He said that Yola and Jos DisCos, which received concessions in 2021 and 2022, respectively, are still getting their bearings and require time to stabilize.

In addition, Aliu said that banks, who now own 60% of the stock in the DisCos, would not keep that ownership since they do not engage in the business of supplying power.

“We’ve offered them anything from six months to a year to find new, serious purchasers to take over the 60%,” he added.

The minister cited a number of what he saw as significant successes of the present administration in the power industry, claiming that “this administration would be leaving behind a stronger power sector than we met.” By the time we leave next year, we will have added an extra 4000 megawatts of power to the 17,000 we presently have, bringing the total to 21,000 megawatts, thanks to the fresh investments we have made and are constantly making.

In response to inquiries over the price of energy in Nigeria, the minister said that nothing could be done by the government since electricity is costly elsewhere in the globe.