The House of Representatives and stakeholders in the power sector are now set to raise a joint implementation committee on the proposed free power supply to the poor and vulnerable Nigerians over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move was a part of the stimulus packages aimed at alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday said the joint panel’s mandate was to work out modalities for the proposed waiver for the most vulnerable people in the country, for a specified period.
According to him, the panel is also expected to identify the group of Nigerians to benefit from the free power supply, the number of households connected to the national grid as well as find the way forward for regular power supply to Nigerians after the COVID-19 crisis.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Gbajabiamila said the essence of the meeting was to proffer means of alleviating the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians during and after the crisis period through the supply of power.
At the meeting were the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale; the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), James Momoh; Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Marilyn Amobi, as well as representatives of Distribution Companies.
Others in attendance were the Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado Doguwa; Chief Whip, Rep. Mohammed Tahir Monguno; Deputy Leader, Rep. Peter Akpatason; Deputy Chief Whip, Rep. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Minority Leader, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu, and the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Rep. Magaji Da’u Aliyu, among others.
The Speaker said, “We are here to find out how we go about it. I’m happy that in my previous engagements with the NNPC GMD, he was very interested. Whatever the issues are within the power supply chain, they have to be dealt with and set aside, but how we deal with the issue at stake is why we are here today (Wednesday).
“This is not about technicalities or blaming any part of the power supply value chain; it is just about how we find a solution”.
Minister of Power, Mamman, in his remarks said the Executive arm was ready to contribute its part to the success of the proposal, saying, “We will give all the support as well as technical advice toward the realization of this objective. We are ready whenever our input is needed.”
