Managing Director of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKDC), Mr. Abiodun Aifwobaje, has said that it has re-engaged 567 former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to complement the 2,070 it inherited from the privatisation programme.
Aifwobaje disclosed this when he received members of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, who visited the company last week in continuation of the lawmakers’ oversight visit to PHCN Successor Companies (SCs) in the Lagos and Ibadan zones of the country.
He restated the commitment of the company to become a leading utility company in the country by providing safe, reliable and quality service to customers at fair and reasonable costs. To achieve this, he said the new owners had taken some initiatives to reposition the company, including training and retraining of staff, repair and replacement of malfunctioning transformers and completion of abandoned distribution projects, among others.
On the challenges facing the company, he told the committee members that IKDC has an installed capacity of 1,684MW but was only able to distribute 421MW to customers out of the maximum demand of 938MW due to shortage of supply from the Generation Companies (Gencos), power theft and vandalism of power installations.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr. Oladele Amuda, told the committee members that the company remained committed to providing uninterrupted and sustainable power supply to its customers.
Amuda said EKEDC plans to invest N45 billion in the next five years while $150 million would be spent immediately on capital projects to meet customers’ needs, network rehabilitation and reinforcement.
He, however, complained about poor power supply from the national grid, power theft, illegal connections and vandalism of power installations as some of the challenges they were facing. Amuda, however, appealed to the committee members to intervene so that the generation companies could supply adequate power to the distribution companies for adequate distribution of power to consumers for increased financial returns.
At the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), the CEO, Atoy Leynes, expressed the readiness of IBEDC to meet consumers’ needs as long as the generation companies can meet customers’ demand.
He listed the challenges facing IBEDC as poor asset performance due to age, poor transmission infrastructure and the absence of land to put up its headquarters.
The IBEDC boss requested that for the distribution companies to become financially viable to undertake aggressive investments in the power industry there should be a tariff structure that is cost reflective and the review of asset classification (core/non-core) of Discos as some assets classified as non-core were essential to the distribution network.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, assured the distribution companies that the committee would do everything within its powers to find a lasting solution to shortage of power supply from the national grid.
On power theft and vandalism, Obadara advised the distribution companies to liaise with security agents to set up a task force to check the criminal acts.
The committee members also visited Egbin Power Station where the Senate Committee Chairman noted that everything concerning power supply starts from generation. If generation is not adequate, he said, it directly affects distribution and the consumers on the whole.Ikeja Disco re-engages 567 ex-PHCN workers
Managing Director of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKDC), Mr. Abiodun Aifwobaje, has said that it has re-engaged 567 former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to complement the 2,070 it inherited from the privatisation programme.
Aifwobaje disclosed this when he received members of the Senate Committee on Privatisation, led by its Chairman, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, who visited the company last week in continuation of the lawmakers’ oversight visit to PHCN Successor Companies (SCs) in the Lagos and Ibadan zones of the country.
He restated the commitment of the company to become a leading utility company in the country by providing safe, reliable and quality service to customers at fair and reasonable costs. To achieve this, he said the new owners had taken some initiatives to reposition the company, including training and retraining of staff, repair and replacement of malfunctioning transformers and completion of abandoned distribution projects, among others.
On the challenges facing the company, he told the committee members that IKDC has an installed capacity of 1,684MW but was only able to distribute 421MW to customers out of the maximum demand of 938MW due to shortage of supply from the Generation Companies (Gencos), power theft and vandalism of power installations.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr. Oladele Amuda, told the committee members that the company remained committed to providing uninterrupted and sustainable power supply to its customers.
Amuda said EKEDC plans to invest N45 billion in the next five years while $150 million would be spent immediately on capital projects to meet customers’ needs, network rehabilitation and reinforcement.
He, however, complained about poor power supply from the national grid, power theft, illegal connections and vandalism of power installations as some of the challenges they were facing. Amuda, however, appealed to the committee members to intervene so that the generation companies could supply adequate power to the distribution companies for adequate distribution of power to consumers for increased financial returns.
At the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), the CEO, Atoy Leynes, expressed the readiness of IBEDC to meet consumers’ needs as long as the generation companies can meet customers’ demand.
He listed the challenges facing IBEDC as poor asset performance due to age, poor transmission infrastructure and the absence of land to put up its headquarters.
The IBEDC boss requested that for the distribution companies to become financially viable to undertake aggressive investments in the power industry there should be a tariff structure that is cost reflective and the review of asset classification (core/non-core) of Discos as some assets classified as non-core were essential to the distribution network.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the committee, Senator Olugbenga Obadara, assured the distribution companies that the committee would do everything within its powers to find a lasting solution to shortage of power supply from the national grid.
On power theft and vandalism, Obadara advised the distribution companies to liaise with security agents to set up a task force to check the criminal acts.
The committee members also visited Egbin Power Station where the Senate Committee Chairman noted that everything concerning power supply starts from generation. If generation is not adequate, he said, it directly affects distribution and the consumers on the whole.