Kalu proposes solutions to electricity challenge, faults privatisation

The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has recommended that eight companies to be created across the country for the purpose of generating, transmitting and distributing power supply across the country.
He said each of them would be merged with a foreign company that would own a substantial percentage of the shares.
Kalu spoke during the Senate plenary on Tuesday.
He said: “If Nigeria is indeed ready to have an improved power supply, it is important to create eight zones that will generate and transmit power across the nation in partnership with competent foreign companies.
“At all times of our privatisation, it wasn’t properly done.
“I remember writing a paper in 1999 and suggesting that the generating companies and distribution companies should be eight.
“And for the transmission in each of the zones, there should be eight companies doing the generation, transmission and distribution, but government rejected my proposal.
“Secondly, when they were privatising, this privatisation were given to friends and cronies.
“They were not given to people who can manage it efficiently.
“I advised when they were privatising that Nigerian companies should be given 50 per cent, Federal Government should maintain probably 25 per cent and Japanese gas companies or any other company who wanted to be partners will take 25 per cent so as to get the investment.”
The former Abia State Governor expressed total regret that despite privatisation, the Federal Government still spends huge sums of money in the sector, calling on the government to immediately revisit the privatisation of the power sector.
According to Kalu, friendship on national assets is inimical to the growth of the country, insisting that the companies have not posted any guarantee bill.
He called on Federal Government to take decisive steps to ensure that the power sector is repositioned for optimum performance.
He also called for a quarterly update of the National Assembly by all the companies involved in power generation, transmission and distribution to know the level of progress recorded.