THE Ministry of Power said Friday that it has commenced the review of the Electricity Sector Power Reform Act of 2005 in line with current realities.

Stressing that it is the mandate of the Ministry of Power to formulate policies, the Ministry said the review of the law is now more paramount, especially now that the power sector is at the final stage of privatisation.

In a statement, it noted: “Indeed, the Ministry is already looking ahead to those obvious challenges that would arise post privatisation. The question is for a legislation made in a period when the power sector was wholly Federal Government affairs, should it not be reviewed to address the present realities? For example, 2005 Electricity Power Sector Reform (EPSR Act) was borne out of the 2003 National Electricity Power Policy (NEPP), which was developed by the Ministry. Why should some individuals be against review that has just begun to gather momentum?

“The current attempt, therefore, has brought to fore the observations of how the sector is faring. This informed the call for the review of the legal framework with a view to ensure that maximum benefits of the reform process accrue to Nigerians within the context of the happenings in the electricity sector, oil and gas, where the incidences of vandalism of infrastructure and theft have assumed worrisome dimensions have made it even more urgent for promulgation of legislation that will curb these menaces.”

The Ministry added that with the army of Nigerians that are unemployed, the call for local content strategy in the ongoing reforms cannot be over emphasised for the impending revolution that is anticipated in the sector.

It said that a review as envisaged in EPSR Act would help provide the framework in the building of the critical mass of professionals skillful to take their rightful places in the industry.”

Making reference to reports (not in The Guardian) that gave the impression that the Nigerian Electricity Power Sector Regulatory Commission (NERC) had issues with the proposed review of the 2005 Electricity Power Sector Reform Act by stakeholders in the power sector, Deputy Director in charge of press at the ministry, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji noted: “The fear that policy and regulatory functions will be mixed up by this review is unfounded. The Ministry is neither trying to change its mandate nor take over the functions of the regulator as alleged in the article. The Federal Ministry of Power is only coordinating the views being jointly carried out by the agencies within the power sector and may find it necessary to reduce or tweak with either the Ministry or NERC’s functions.”


http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/national-news/128916-privatisation-fg-commences-review-of-electricity-law