If you don’t have electricity, it is not the Federal Government’s
problem, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola,
has declared.
Fashola, who disclosed this while speaking at the
Nextier Power Dialogue on Wednesday night in Abuja, told his listeners
that there were problems in the power sector, but reminded them that it
was not the Federal Government’s problem if citizens in the country do
not have electricity, especially since the sector was privatised.
He
said, “There are problems without a doubt and we must deal with them.
But let me remind you, all of the assets that the Ministry of Power used
to control for power have been sold by the last administration before I
came. And so if you don’t have power, it is not the government’s
problem. Let us be honest.
“The people who are operating the
power sector, generation and distribution are now privately owned
companies. I am here because I am concerned. If your telephone is not
working, it is not the minister of communication that you go to. Let us
be very clear.”
The minister added, “So for those of you who want
to weaponise electricity, face the businessmen who have taken it up.
Let us be honest. If your bank over-charges you interest, is it the
minister of finance you go to? So let’s be clear. This is now a private
business by Act of parliament 2005.
“My role is regulatory,
oversight and policy, but I have a problem which is the fact that I
can’t see a problem and turn my back, so I’m getting involved. So the
people you should be talking to about transformers is not me, the
ministry doesn’t supply transformers anymore.”
Fashola further
defended his position after another participant at the dialogue insisted
that the minister supervises the ministry and that the Gencos and
Discos were players under the FMPWH.
Taking a cue from the
analogy given by the participant while answering the question asked, the
minister said, “I think that NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission) is the referee of the game. I am FIFA (Federation of
International Football Association). And it is not right as you said
that FIFA gets involved, because whether the referee makes a mistake or
not the goal stands.
“So the FIFA man does not enter the field to
say go and change the result, but it’s an interesting analogy that I’ve
also contemplated in my head and that’s why you didn’t catch me by too
much surprise. However, it is important to allow the referee to continue
to decide the game because investors like to know who decides.”
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