Sunday Oduntan, the Executive Director of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, has urged the government to properly concession the Transmission Company of Nigeria in order to expand its capacity.
Oduntan spoke at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to him, the Federal Government should construction new 17,000 megawatts of transmission lines so that it could transmit more power generated by generation companies.
Oduntan explained that if adequate transmission lines were constructed, it would attract investors, adding that this would also reduce rejection of loads by some DISCOs.
Oduntan said for the nation’s power sector to improve, there must be a positive change of culture by Nigerians in terms of power usage.
He listed delay in payment of electricity bills and vandalism of electrical installations as some of the practices affecting the energy sector.
According to Oduntan, since 2013 till date, the power sector has N300 billion funding gap and listed the military, ministries, parastatals and agencies as major debtors to the power sector.
He explained that one of the major factors that led to the funding gap was inappropriate tariff in the industry for many years.
Oduntan explained that before, the power sector was generating up to 5,000 megawatts of power, but now due to frequent vandalism in the sector, this had drastically reduced the power generated.
He added there are 26 power plants in Nigeria generating electricity, but currently, due to vandalism, many of them could not generate power due to shortage of gas to power the plants.
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