Managing Director, Electricity Management Services Ltd. (EMSL), Mr. Peter Ewesor, in Abuja has clarified that the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Authority ( NEMSA) establishment bill would improve service delivery in the power sector.
Ewesor told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the bill if passed into an Act, would give the proposed agency the statutory backing to carry out its functions effectively.
According to him, the EMSL as an enforcement agency was saddled with the responsibility to ensure that all equipments used in the power sector in the country were duly tested and certified.
“The proposed NEMSA Act will definitely promote and strengthen the energy sector, it cannot weaken regulations in the sector,” he said.
He explained that the proposed Act would define the boundaries of operations of the proposed Authority.
Ewesor stressed that its fundamental aim was to separate the technical skill and expertise functions of the power sector from commercial.
He further explained that with the approval by President Goodluck Jonathan for the creation of EMSL, the mandate to oversee technical matters was transferred to it from the ministry of power.
The managing director noted that there was nowhere in the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 that mandated the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), to inspect and certify electrical installations.
“What the creation of NEMSA seeks to do is to separate the economic regulation from the technical regulation,” he said.
He said the reform in the power sector road map required a more participatory approach.
It would be recalled that the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, at a public hearing opposed the enactment of the Act.
According to him, the establishment of NEMSA would amount to duplication of functions already been carried out by NREC.