More electricity metres to be available soon – Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has assured Nigerians that they would receive their electricity prepaid meters soon.

Fashola while briefing newsmen on his first year in office said that Nigerians would get the meters as local manufacturers were getting ready to deliver them.

Recall that Local manufacturers had increased their monthly production capacity from 25,000 to 50,000 even as the NERC says 4 million Nigerians are awaiting prepaid meters.

It will take the companies 80 months to manufacture up to four million meters to meet the deficit reported by NERC.

He however called for patience on the part of Nigerians stressing that the Power Sector Privatisation was just three years old and required more time to stabilize.

According to Fashola, electricity generation in Nigeria has improved considerably in the last 12 months, peaking at above 5074MW for the first time in the nation’s 63-year-old electricity history earlier this year.

He said this has created jobs for hitherto idle artisans, small and medium scale entrepreneurs and empowered  other businesses.

He noted that the more than 800 containers of imported power generation and distribution components stranded at the ports for between three and eight years, have been released.

He regretted that about 3000MW of electricity was lost to vandalism, adding, however, that the Federal Government was discussing with agitators in order to put an end to the destruction.

Fashola said electricity generation would continue to appreciate as more stations come on stream and contribute to the national grid.

Speaking on the current economic recession, Fashola said that recession in Nigeria had been in place for more than three years.

He noted that when workers were being retrenched and the purchasing power of an average citizen eroded, as had been the case since 2013, these were obviously signs of recession.

He, however, expressed the hope that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was on the road to making Nigerians smile once again.