The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, on Monday blamed the erratic power supply in the country on some cabals he said are benefiting from the decay recorded in the sector over the years in the country.
Nnaji who disclosed this at a stakeholders forum in Lagos said certain individuals are resisting attempts by the present government to change the status quo.
“This thing has to do with interest. Some people want to continue to protect their interest. They want the thing to remain the same way so that they can continue to get what they have been getting over the years. Like our people used to say they want to carry go. But the president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan now has the will power to scuttle their interest and make sure Nigerians have stable electricity.
The obviously enraged minister warned that it would no longer tolerate any act tailored to frustrate the effort of the government to ensure stable electricity supply in the country
He said the government has put a short term measure in place to revamp the sector, assuring that Nigerians would see improved electricity supply in the next two to seven months??
The minister who lamented recent epileptic power, said the major challenge have been inadequacy of gas, seasonal hydrowater shortage and to lesser extent inadequate human capacity and insufficient system synergy”.
To overcome the challenges , he said” Within two months , nationwide , there will be moderately improved power supply??and a renewed distribution model which will allow the Disco in their various areas of distribution to promote planned timed distribution??and have citizens informed”
He also fingered non-availability of gas for the inability of the National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP) projects across the nation to commence power generation and transmission.
He, however, said the challenge of gas was being addressed with the declaration of state of emergency on gas by the Minister of Petroleum.
The minister explained that all NIPP projects have suffered from lack of gas supply, adding “That has been the issue. We are trying to solve the problem. We don’t want to leave any stone upturn.
‘’It is not going to be an issue of power. The power stations will be ready but we have to have gas to power them. We are doing everything within the transmission companies to ensure that evacuation is not going to be an issue. We have programme in place to ensure adequate gas supply.”
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