Power Sector Decentralisation: Eko Disco Ready to Partner Lagos Govt to Ramp Up Supply

*Wants incoming administration to build on predecessor’s efforts

Peter Uzoho

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has declared its readiness to go into partnership with the Lagos State Government to jointly take advantage of the power sector decentralisation and ramp up power supply to Lagosians.  

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Eko Disco, Dr. Tinuade Sanda, said this during an exclusive interview with THISDAY.

Sanda also advised the incoming administration to give priority attention to the challenges plaguing the nation’s power sector and build on the efforts of the outgoing administration.

President Muhammadu Buhari had last week signed into law the power sector decentralisation bill, which allows state governments to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas that are currently under the existing Discos’ networks.

Sanda, who said the signing into law of the power sector decentralisation bill was in the right direction, however, noted that the development might have huge impacts on the monopoly that had been an incentive for investors.

She maintained that the decentralisation would also help to bring effectiveness, efficiency and a bit of competition to the power sector.

She gave a, “note of caution that the state governments should also work and collaborate with the investors that have invested in the power because one, we don’t want it to be seen that terms and conditions of the privatisation are not being adhered to, and because we don’t want a situation where foreign investors could be wary of arbitrary government policy changes

“But I personally feel that power sector needs a lot of capital expenditure, it’s a long term investment. This new law will attract necessary investment into the power sector that is required to up and address the rehabilitation that needs to be done, the networks and all that.

“And it also brings a lot of strategic partnerships, business alliances and some equity investments and improved liquidity to the sector.”

According to Sanda, “For us in Eko Disco, it’s something we look forward to in working with Lagos State government and seeing how we can also improve the experience of our consumers in our network areas and ensure that we are able to provide power to them.

“Affordability also matters and also in a safe manner. So anywhere where we need to collaborate with Lagos State government, Eko Disco is willing and we are ready to work with the government on that.”

On her expectations from the incoming administration, Sanda said she would expect the government to pay priority attention to the challenges plaguing the nation’s power sector and build on the efforts of the outgoing administration.

Describing power supply as the bedrock of any economy as humans need power to survive, the Eko Disco boss added that Nigeria needs power for the manufacturers to produce at lower cost.

“We all need power in our day-to-day lives, in our businesses. And I believe that when there is power availability in terms of addressing the gas issues, addressing the issues that have been affecting the sector in terms of liquidity and in terms of having a cost-effective tariff; looking at consumers being metered appropriately and ensuring that the grid instability that we had, the aged networks that need to be rehabilitated are focused on.

“This will help the citizens of Nigeria. So I think in my opinion that power should be on the front burner of the incoming administration”, she stated.
Highlighting the investments made in the last one year by Eko Disco, Sanda disclosed that the company
has invested about N14 billion to address some capital projects, rehabilitate its network, meter customers and to improve consumers’ experience.
She explained that the company’s focus was to push more power to its teeming consumers notwithstanding the situation with the national grid, adding that they also looked into collaborative relationships in order to get more power from Independent Power Plants (IPPs).

“There are a couple of IPPs we’ve signed and we are working within Eko network area. There are also some other Gencos that, on our own, we have gone ahead to have a bilateral relationship with, just because we just want to serve our consumers and be able to provide power to them,” she added.

Sanda also revealed her plans for the next few years, saying she would like to see that the company was able to achieve a minimum of 20 hours power supply to Eko Disco customers and clear out its metering gap in the next three years, starting with 30 per cent benchmark target on a year-on-year basis.