In this interview with National Newsblast Newspaper, Imo State Commissioner for Power and Electrification, Honourable Engineer Nwabueze Oguchienti, reveals achievements recorded in the quest to ensure 24-hour electricity supply and end the criminality of estimated billing that forces electricity consumers paying for darkness and power they never consumed.
According to Oguchienti who is seen by many as a round peg in a round hole, the first step was the establishment of Imo-based Orashi Electricity Company Limited which will soon take over the job of power distribution from Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Limited (EEDC) following the removal of power related matters from the exclusive list to the concurrent list in the national scheme of affairs, and establishment of Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ISERC) that ended federal oversight functions of National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The former Distribution Manager of National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) further reveals that Imo State, blessed with over seventy percent of Nigeria’s natural gas reserves, has the capacity to supply electricity to states in the country’s South East region and beyond. Excerpts.
Q: Sir, you are addressed as an engineer. What aspect of engineering did you read?
A: I am an electrical engineer. I read electrical engineering. My main bias is power systems. I worked as an electrical engineer for a long time with NEPA. I retired as a distribution manager.
Q: What has the journey been like since your assumption of office?
A: I would first of all say it has been nice because I find myself in a very familiar terrain. But I also say there are a lot of challenges ahead. That is because, as you are aware, the power situation in Nigeria is chaotic. Imo State is no exception. That is due largely to poor investment in power infrastructure. So, you have a situation where you do not develop your generating capacity, your transmission capacities, as well as distribution capacity. The facilities have not been operated effectively to deliver the desired services over the years.
The state government led by His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, took cognizance of these deficiencies. As soon as the Electricity Act was signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Act gave power to the states to play in this sector.
The governor did not waste time to bring in the necessary bill to the Imo State House of Assembly to be passed into law that gave rise to Imo State Electricity Reform Law that has given us as a state, the right to play a decent role in the sector. So, I can say, with that, we have started a very fantastic journey which will ensure that the people of Imo State will have a feel of what it is like to have a life enhanced with better power supply. We have established an electricity market.
Now, we are no longer under the control of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). We are waiting for NERC to cede that oversight to Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, ISERC, following the deregulation of the system via the removal of electricity from the Exclusive list to the Concurrent list by the federal government.
Our own industry in Imo State will henceforth be regulated by ISERC, not NERC. We are very hopeful that in no distant time, the entire Imo State will enjoy reliable power supply and adequate electricity in households and businesses.
Q: Imolites, having seen the office of Orashi Electricity Company Limited on Bank Road, Owerri which was recently opened, are asking, when will we start enjoying power supply from the company? How soon?
A: Orashi Electricity Company Limited is a limited liability company that represents an investor in Imo State. Government has reached an agreement with the company because you need to have investors with financial and technical capacities to realize the project in collaboration with government. The successful signing of the agreement will have Orashi Ele
In twenty-four months time, there will be an appreciable improvement over what we have today. We are committed to the success of the project.
Q: Imo electricity consumers now call DISCOs electricity disconnection companies. They are angry at being extorted, paying for darkness from the DISCOs. What is the plan to put an end to this menace which they see as broad daylight monthly banditry? What will be done differently this time?
A: What is going to be different, what is going to happen that will be different from what has been happening in the past is that customers are going to be connected with smart meters to the Orashi Electricity Company Limited network. The problem we have had in the past is that a number of people were not connected with meters and so it will be difficult to bill them based on consumption. That was what gave rise to what you call estimated billing. And of course, the current customers connected to the current DISCO, EEDC, now that Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission is taking over all the oversight on electricity distribution networks in Imo State, ISERC has to invite EEDC because what will be happening is that we are going to have another company that will be running the EEDC network here in Imo State.
That company will be supervised by ISERC. And of course, we must insist that people are billed according to what they consume. NERC even directs that customers without meters should not be billed arbitrarily. The order is very clear. What we are now going to do in Imo State is to ensure that we enforce those orders on the company that will be running the distribution network which will be domiciled here in the state.
The law is very clear. If a customer does not have a meter, you must take the average billing for customers who have meters in that area over a period of time
Q: Most houses have meters but EEDC tells them that the meters are not working and no efforts are made to repair them. How can all the meters in a community fail to work? Customers believe that this is a fraudulent way of stealing by trick. When will ISERC have the legal empowerment to check this menace? Can ISERC by October 1st, 2024, tell EEDC, look,you can’t do this anymore more because we are now supervising you?
A: Yes. In fact, it has already started because the order is effective from September 1st, 2024.
Q: If for instance, National Newsblast brings a bill to ISERC and says this is not the amount I should pay because no electricity was supplied for the period under review and my meter has no problem and should be working, will ISERC take over the matter?
A: Yes. Very well. As I said, the services should improve because the supervision is closer to the consumer. Not in far off Enugu or Abuja. Before, you had to run to Enugu or Abuja but right now, the regulator is here in Imo with the consumer.
Q: When Prof. Chinedu Nebo was Minister of Power, I interviewed him at his office at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja in 2013. I posed the question of poor power supply and generator dealers sabotaging the power sector for their business to boom. He told me that by 2014, he would send generator dealers packing because power sector reforms would ensure adequate power supply in Nigeria. Seeing where Nigeria is now, ten years after the 2014 promise, with generator dealers getting richer, one may ask, is what you are promising now not business as usual, same as the former Minister of Power?
A: It is not this time. I agree with you that some leaders have lacked the political will to make a difference. As I have said,the 2023 Power Act has given us the political will to make a difference. That is why our governor has started this project. Here in Imo State, we have abundant gas deposits. Imo State has over seventy percent of all the gas reserves in the entire country. We are poised to utilize this gas to generate power not just for Imo State alone but states around Imo State. It is a problem of leadership not having the will to drive the progress.
Q: There was a proposal for the establishment of a gas
It took the efforts of the governor. The fact that we have established our electricity market and are now managing all of this before any other State, I can tell you, in the next five months, if you come back to this place, you will notice changes. At the end of the day, quality of life will improve in Imo because power drives the economy via industries which cannot operate without steady electricity supply. Unemployment will also reduce because more people will engage in productive ventures.
Q: On a lighter note, what is your alma mater?
A: I have several?
Q: The last one?
A: I got my Master’s degree from Enugu State University of Science and Technology.
Q: How do you compare your days as a student with the current generation
A: The difference is that in those days we did not have Internet and all the influences of social media. We relied on libraries. You go to school, go to the library and pour through books. We also had better motivation. You had scholarship, bursary, and after you get your certificate, you get employment that is waiting for you. Not now that we have many unemployed graduates. All these vices of trying to make big money overnight was not there during our time.