Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Hon. Hamisu Chidari Ibrahim has said the committee will partner with relevant committees in the House to ensure the passage of a bill aimed at curbing electricity theft in the country.
Speaking when he led other members of the committee on an oversight visit to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in Lagos on Monday, August 26, Hon. Ibrahim decried the rate of electricity theft in the country, assuring that the planned legislation would check the abuse.
He called for collaboration between the committee and electricity power companies for effective and efficient power supply in the country, noting that such collaborative efforts would give the committee the opportunity to know the challenges facing the power companies with a view to providing legislative solutions.
He commended EKEDC for attaining and maintaining the best rated status amongst power distribution companies in the country and urged its management and staff to uphold the status.
According to him, the visit was in line with the legislative functions of the committee to oversee all privatised and concessioned enterprises by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
Ibrahim reassured of the commitment of his committee to working closely with power companies to fight electricity theft by unpatriotic consumers, adding that the House had already passed a motion for the quick recovery of debts owed by power companies by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
In his own remarks, a member of the committee, Hon. Decour Damnemunene expressed concern over the categorisation of various customers in Band A, which has resulted in most electricity consumers not paying for the electricity they consume.
Welcoming the members, the acting Managing Director of EKEDC, Mrs. R. Momoh who noted that industry regulators had commended her company’s performance, disclosed that the company is the only Disco in the country that has reduced its ATC&C Losses Ratio to the barest minimum despite the challenges in the power sector.
She explained that EKEDC has reduced the ATC&C Losses Ratio from 35% in 2023 to 15.1% in 2024 with over 700,000 of its customers metered, adding that the Disco is currently working out modalities, in collaboration with the federal government’s Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP), for procurement of an additional 92,000 meters for its customers.
The Disco boss stated that EKEDC has also made significant improvements in technology, provision of meters and transformers, enthusing that “EKEDC is the only Disco that fulfils its monthly remittance obligations to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Company”.
She, however, expressed regret that the company is being owed N144bn by MDAs in its area of operation, lamenting that the Military, Police and other Lagos State-owned agencies have refused to pay up their debts, a situation she said has posed a lot of challenge to the Disco’s financial stability.
