Expert wants state govts., manufacturers to generate electricity

The Director-General, Advocacy for Economic Integrity, Abdullahi Aremu, on Friday called for involvement of state governments and manufacturers in electricity generation and distribution, to have constant power supply rather than depending on the Federal Government.

He urged government to grant manufacturers licences to generate their own power to improve their operations.

“The greatest challenge, especially for the industrial sector, is power crisis; this is why local manufacturers cannot compete with their foreign counterparts,” he said.

According to him, some manufacturers spend so much buying diesel on daily basis to power their generators, yet estimated bills of huge amount are being given to them by electricity distribution companies.

Aremu said the diversification of energy sources like coal, wind, hydro and nuclear was necessary to stabilise power to run manufacturing plants for long period.

“There is the need to urgently diversify the energy sources as excessive concentration on gas-powered stations constitutes a major risk to the power sector and the economy.”

“Government should focus on other sources of energy like coal, wind, hydro and nuclear,” the director-general said.

According to him, the first step is to ensure that all the equipment necessary for the development of these sources are fully exempted from all forms of import duties, levies and taxation.

NAN