A group calling itself All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum is pushing for the scrapping of Nigeria’s Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The group’s call follows the displeasure expressed by President Muhammadu Buhari about the performance of the power sector in the West African nation.

Last week, President Buhari expressed his unsatisfactory state of electricity supply in Nigeria.

And that, to the group, is an indictment on the country’s electricity regulator and, therefore, advised the President to take a bold step to scrap it for failing Nigerians.

“Our advice to the President is to scrap NERC for not living up to its responsibilities of regulating the industry,” National Coordinator of All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum, Adeola Samuel-Lori said during an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.

He suggested to the President to move the responsibilities of NERC to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).

“The government should put the sector under the supervision of the FCCPC which has, in recent times, showed that it has what is required to protect the interest of Nigerians.

“If we have a regulator that cannot only bark but can bite, all the stakeholders in the electricity value-chain, especially the DisCos, will sit up.”

Samuel-Ilori noted that the DisCos had for several years ignored NERC’s directives without sanctions, which had encouraged impunity in the sector.

He said, for instance, NERC’s order on capping of Estimated Billing was not obeyed by some DisCos, thus compelling the All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum to institute a suit against NERC and the DisCos before an Ikeja High Court.

According to him, the Meter Assets Providers scheme also stipulates a 10-day period for customers to be metered after making payment but some of the Discos are not adhering to the directive.

Samuel-Ilori decried the slow pace of metering of electricity customers across the country, adding that Nigerians should be allowed to procure their meters directly from any source by the DisCos.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com