Chairman, Senate committee of power, Gabriel Suswan, has said that the way to enforce a new electricity tariff regime is for the federal government to purchase prepaid meters in bulk for the distribution companies.
He said this measure would bridge the metering gap in the electricity sector.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report quoted the governor as saying that since the federal government is a holder of 40 percent equity in the Discos, a bulk purchase of the prepaid meters would solve the challenge of poor power supply.
Suswan, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, also said that government could also decide to divest its equity in the distribution chain if it wanted.
“It is another way out, if government wants to divest part of their equity holding, in this power, so they could introduce new monies into the entities.
“Another way is for government, as part of their own obligation, holding 40 per cent, to buy mass prepaid meters and then put it before the DisCos and ask them to pay over a period of time.
“In that way, government can purchase, say about six million prepaid meters, and this will ensure that at least every person is connected to the grid; if not all of them between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of them are metered.
“If 90 per cent of people consuming electricity are metered, of course the sector will become solvent, because collection will become easy.
“Why are they unable to collect, it is because there is infrastructural deficit which includes that of prepaid metering as well, so, once these things are put in place and power supply becomes efficient, you and I will not mind the increase in tariff,” he said.
He said there was need for enumeration of people connected to the national grid and get them metered.
“There are laws that have to be put in place, they need enumeration of people who are connected to the national grid, those people have to be metered, when you meter people you are sure of collection, all of these have not been done.
“From Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, statistics shows that 10 million people are connected to national grid, out of which only four million are metered.
“So, how do you get the money if you say cost reflective tariff, because you have six million connected to the national grid that have yet to be give prepaid meter,” he said. (NAN)
