From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Federal Government (FG), in collaboration with the National Assembly, has reiterated their commitment to support the complementary roles of electricity regulators towards an effective transition to a multi-tier Nigerian Electricity Market.
This was made known during a workshop on Monday in Abuja with the theme: ‘Legal, Policy and Regulatory Harmonization’, between Federal and State Institutions on the Decentralization of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Speaking during the workshop, the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration, Mr Rilwan Babalola, described electricity as the foundation for industrialization, economic competitiveness, job creation and national prosperity.
He therefore tasked participants to embrace the transition as partners working towards one Nigerian electricity market, rather than institutions protecting separate jurisdictions.
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According to him, “Every major reform creates new opportunities. It also creates new interface. As Federal and State institutions assume their respective responsibilities, questions will naturally arise regarding regulatory boundaries, market oversight, technical standards and commercial arrangements. That is not a weakness of the reform. It is the natural consequence of institutional evolution.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that these questions are resolved through dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect. The Electricity Act decentralises aspects of governance. It does not decentralise the physics of electricity. Our networks remain interconnected. Our markets remain interdependent. Our prosperity remains shared. That is why harmonisation is not optional. It is fundamental to preserving one efficient Nigerian electricity market,” he said.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said, the Committee is committed to an enabling law that will permits Federal and State electricity regulators to perform complementary roles.
His own words: “Ultimately, the success of decentralization should not be measured merely by the number of States that established electricity markets or obtained transfer orders. Rather, success should be measured by whether Nigeria achieves a coherent, efficient, bankable and integrated electricity market where federal and State institutions perform complementary rather than competing roles.
“We therefore require harmonised rules governing the relationship between NERC and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions”, he also revealed.
Adding to the voice of speakers at the workshop, the Minister of Power, Chief Joseph Tegbe, and the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Musiliu Oseni, were both harped on the need for harmonization of regulatory and operational activities in the Nigerian Electricity Market (NEM).
