President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan said on Thursday that there was the urgent need to revisit the privatisation of the power sector.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja when members of the Executive Committee of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria ((MAN) paid him a courtesy visit, Lawan said, “I think the privatisation has not worked. It has failed because the essence of privatisation is to create efficiency,” Lawan told his guests who complained of the adverse effects of the sordid state of electricity supply in the country.
“It appears most of the companies, the DISCOs (Distribution Companies), have no sufficient capital and probably the same thing with the GENCOs (Generation Companies).”
The President who acknowledged the efforts of the government which, out of desperation to create a better situation for the privatised sector, gave out so much money to the companies, said, “I think the time has come for the government to take a very drastic but necessary decision. If we have privatised the DISCOs and the GENCOs, I think, the private sector, those who have taken them over, should be able to make them work better than they were before.
“If they cannot, I think we need to revisit this privatisation because we cannot go on like that. We should look at the larger interest of Nigerians, not of those companies that have taken over the power sector – the DISCOs and the GENCOs.
“We are going to support the executive arm of government… We will suggest that going forward we have to revisit the privatisation because apparently the companies are not able to provide the power that we thought they could by now.”
Lawan who noted that the issue of power has remained one of the major challenges of the nation’s economy, said, “there is no way we can make any serious progress without adequate and steady power supply”.
On the complaint by MAN on the delay encountered in clearing goods at the nation’s seaports, the Senate President expressed his confidence that the federal government committee on Ease of Doing Business chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo would address the issue.
The committee, he said has since its inception done a lot to normalize and restore efficiency at the ports.
He assured the Association of the National Assembly readiness to partner with it for the growth and development of the nation’s economy.
“Feel free to always come to us when there is a need for legislative intervention,” he said.
Earlier, MAN President, Engr. Mansur Ahmed who listed insecurity, delebitating power supply and delay in clearing goods as major challenges facing the members of the Association, said that the challenges have resulted in a lack of competitiveness by the nation’s manufacturers.