The National Liaising Officer, Licenced Electrical Contractors of Nigeria (LECAN) Chief Haruna Ahmed Osike, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declared state of emergency in the power sector to enable the federal government tackle the issues surrounding epileptic supply in the country
He also appealed to the President to revisit the 2013 concessioning of the power sector, saying six years after the process, the country was still battling with inadequate power supply that has led to the collapsed of many industries and companies across the nation .
Addressing newsmen in Lokoja , Kogi state capital on Sunday over poor performance of the distribution companies in the country, Chief Osike said the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) handling Kogi and other states in the north central have failed woefully in their promise to ensure adequate power supply to the people of the state.
According to him, “If truly and sincerely President Buhari have it in mind to tackle issues of electricity in this country, he should as a matter of urgency in this his second term declared state of emergency in the power sector.
“Any thing short of that means that Nigerians will continue to dwell in total darkness, companies and industries will continue to pack off one after the others and when this ugly incidents happened the unemployment rate will continue to rise which will ultimately increased the high level of insecurity we are witnessing today.
“I think a stitch in time saves nine, the president should focus vigorously on the issue of power this time around and he should engage professionals in the field of engineering on matters that bothers on power rather than using a novice that can easily be cajole to accept what is not correct and not solution to the nation power problems.
“If the power sector is directly under the supervision of the president he will be able to identify the high level of corruption in the sector otherwise no matter how much dollars and naira he sink into power sector the result will amount to nothing and the people of Nigeria will not derive any benefit from the effort.
Osike who is the first electrical licenced contractor in the north, said that the ministry of power is very large, suggesting that it should be detached from the ministry of works and housing so that it can be monitored efficiently and effectively to give the desire result.
“It is a fact that Nigerians vested too much hope and expectations on President Buhari that he has the capacity to change the fortune of the country for better and as such he should try to fulfil the mandate and trust reposed on him by Nigerians in addressing critical sector that can give rise to development of the country” he said.
