Disco has no right to disconnect electricity supply to an entire community- Eng Ife Oyedele.
– Steve Ovirih
Thepolity.net met with the Executive Director, Niger Delta Power holding company LTD, Abuja, Eng. Ife Oyedele in his office. In this forty minute media chat with Steve Ovirih, the NDPHC boss aired his view on the role of his outfit , their mandate as a power holding company , the electricity challenge in Ondo south senatorial district and other sundry issues of development.
TP.net – Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHCN); to the layman on the street of Niger Delta, what does the mandate of the company entail and how far has it been able to acquit this mandate so far?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: NDPHC was created to manage the national integrated power product (NIPP) , principally to build power plants , sell and then rebuild more. This was as a result of the wide gap between generation and demand at a time. However, after the plants were built , in spite of efforts made by the Federal Government,they have not been able to sell those plants. Now, in the process of building those plants ,government also realised that there was the need to operate the plant and to operate the plant, you need gas supply , so NDPHC started to build gas receiving stations and pipelines to bring gas from the wells to the plants and they also realised the need to evacuate the power unto the national grid and eventually to the customers. So, the NDPHC were directed to start constructing transmission lines and substations as well as distribution sub stations .Thus, from building power plants , the scope increased to building transmission lines and substations and distributing network just to make sure that all the gaps in the value chain are filled and joined together. That’s where we are today; unfortunately , because of the market situation , government has not been able to sell those plants ,so government has re strategise to ask us at NDPHC to be operating the plant so that the original purpose of building the plants will not be defeated. That’s where we are.
TP.net – What’s your opinion on the 2020 Appropriation bill just assented to by the National Assembly? Will you say much fund has been budgeted for Power?
Eng Ife Oyedele: We have not received the details of what the National Assembly has approved, so I think it will be premature to start making comments on it. I think what will happen is that when the bill is returned to the Executive arm of government and to the Federal Ministry of budget and planning and details of the budget is made available then we can make informed comment on it.
TP.net – Will you say much fund had been budgeted for power in the years past?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: Thank you. You see, the truth of the matter is that government is not about to be budgeting fund for power anymore because apart from the transmission end of the value chain , all the others have been privatised . NDPHCN for instance is a private limited liability company though we are owned by the Federal Government, states and the Local Government Areas, we are a private limited liability company. Most of the electricity generating companies, Gencos have been sold , the hydros have been sold , the electricity distribution companies, Discos operating network across the country have been sold; so I am not sure if we should be talking of adequate budget or adequate fund provision. Government is very much aware of what to do ; the power sector is government’s top priority , so I am sure that within the limits of what is available to distribute to cover all the sector of the economy , government has always been poised to make adequate provision for the power sector.
TP.net – Is there an overlay of function between what you do here at NDPHC and what the distribution and power generation companies do?
Eng .Ife Oyedele: Not at all! Not at all. The transmission lines and substations that we built are ceded to the Transmission company of Nigeria (TCN), who by law are authorized to cater to transmission matters exclusively. When we build those transmission lines and substations, we transfer them ; when we build substations and network , we transfer to the Discos that cover the area. Of course, the eligible customer declaration is now making it possible for Gencos to look for customers who can supply power directly to them. So , in a not too distant future , you will see NDPHCN building its own transmission lines and distribution networks to be able to sell what it is producing to customers. I think that is a very wise thing for the government to do.
TP.net – What is your assessment of rural electrification in the areas of coverage of NDPHCN?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: You see, Steve, NDPHCN operates throughout the federation. Like I said earlier, the company is owned by the Federal Government which owns 47 % , the 36 states alongside the Federal capital territory (FCT) and the 774 LGAs own the remaining 53% of the company. So we work all over the country in terms of transmission. NDPHCN’s beat is to ensure that all the gaps in the value chain are closed. What we do is that subject to availability of fund , when there is an urgent need to build transmission or distribution network, we are directed to do it and we do it in record time.
TP.net – Away from the broad base issue of NDPHC. You are an Ikale indigene and a major stakeholder in issues of progression in Ikale Land. Do you think there is a case of class deprivation against Ikale nay, Ondo south senatorial district by BEDC?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: Well, I think there was a misunderstanding of the role of the distribution company and this was because, in my own view , they were not prepared for the work they eventually engaged in. They did not have the financial muscle and the logistics capacity for the beat they inherited in the power sector. They didn’t have the capacity to enumerate all the customers or all the potential customers in the areas of their coverage. They didn’t have the technical capacity and financial muscle to refurbish the lines they inherited . You see, it’s like you buying a fairly used car that has no tyres , and you have borrowed money from the bank to buy the car , it has no tyre; it has no battery and some of the seats are worn out and you don’t even have additional money to buy any of these badly worn out parts ; that is what is happening to the Discos, to the best of my knowledge. So, what they want to do is to maximize their opportunity. They look at customers that high net worth ones and they will rather want to concentrate on those ones . They do not have the capacity to go to the rural areas and the suburban areas , enumerate them and provide intelligent meters for all these places and ensure that if anyone tampers with them or the supplies to houses such will be easily detected. They do not have the wherewithal for all these. In order to maximize their opportunity, they concentrate on the urban areas where there are high net worth customers who will want to pay for the electricity they consume and that is what is happening all over the country.
It is unfortunate that in the process of the Discos trying to maximize the available opportunity, Ikale people fell victim . The history of people showing resistance to paying bills , which although had dated back to the Nepa days when arbitrary bills and estimated billing was the order of the day , also contributed to the the electricity challenge the people have. When they bring these bills and you feel cheated , you want to look for opportunity to gain advantage over them ; also this challenge that emanates from the corrupt activities of some of their staff then and even now do not help matter. Most customers who are paying bills are actually paying into the wrong hands. Worst still, there have been no enough punishment to deter people pursuing this angle. All these circumstances contributed a great deal to what led to the light out in Ikale Land and the entire Ondo south senatorial district.
[12/14, 10:12 AM] Steve Ovi: TP.net : Sir, now that the Ikale community has fallen victim of BEDC’s light out because they are not area of high net worth ……..
Eng. Ife Oyedele cuts in : I am not sure that the Ikale area is not a high net worth area. Look there are high net worth customers there. What happened was that the Discos responsible for that area cut off the supply there for years and the net worth depreciated. Like I told you, the Disco did not have the financial muscle and the technical know how to rebuild, refurbish or restore damaged lines. The transformers had been abandoned for between the range of six and twelve years ; they are not likely to be able to function well without refurbishing . Some of the polls , the 33 kva transmission lines , the 11 kva lines had fallen . The polls were terribly damaged , the cables had cut too. So, they didn’t have the muscle , the financial chest to ensure such capital intensive repairs are carried out with the kind of painstaking and clinical attention they require. That’s what happened not that they didn’t see the Ondo south coverage as a place with viable customer base but the logistics to revive the supply adequately to the area is beyond them , very dauntingly huge! Luckily, the FG through the office of the Vice President intervened and directed that the NDPHC should intervene; luckiy too, I am here a citizen of Nigeria who happened to come from Ikale Land , who is also a victim like every other person from the southern senatorial district. So, we have been able to restore and rebuild most of the lines while some of the projects are still on going and itsnt Ikale Land alone; Ilaje, Apoi and the entire Ondo south district , consisting of six KGAs, are involved in this.
Of course, it was a disaster of huge proportion because when you talk of a high net worth, it was in the process of this outage that all the major hotels in the land got disconnected from the grid through NEPA at a time and now through BEDC and all the industries in lkale Land went comatose . No investor will take an industry to where there are no power supply and no water supply. The water treatment plant that the state government was building has been abandoned over 16 years ago . These are the challenges the people are facing. I hope that now most of these industries will return to the place as efforts are being made to return the light. You will recall that some of these industries have moved to Omotoso area and Ore area because we have been able to restore power supply to those areas. We have also been able to connect industries in the area to power because of eligible customer declaration in the area. That’s the situation now . Now that we are connecting Ondo south , I hope that the industries will spring up there again.
TP.net -There have been divergent opinion by different stakeholders as to when electricity supply will actually return to Ikale Land. What’s your take on this?
Eng.Ife Oyedele : By now most of the network have been completed . I can recall that I had an engagement with The Pro- Chancellor of The Ondo state University of Science and Technology (Osustech), Okitipupa , just last week and we had a conference call with the management of BEDC . The understanding we had from the meeting was that what BEDC was waiting for was for customers to pay for their meter. I think that has been negotiated and The Pro- Chancellor promised that early next week the payment for the meter will be effected and the meters will be installed almost immediately. I am sure that as soon as that is done they will start enjoying power supply.
My only appeal to the people in the university area is also to pay for their meter and get connected so that they too can benefit from the return of electricity supply to the university area. The major reason I took that step was for the people to know that power has been restored to the area , so that when they see that the University area now is lit all of the time, they will be eager to pay for their own intelligent meters.
TP.net – Metering is the first step to getting electricity back?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: Yes! It is important for the people to ensure that they have intelligent meters so that they are not cheated and so that we don’t go back to the NEPA days of metering manipulation which led to the power outage crisis in the first place. I have agreed with BEDC that they should also connect important areas like the General Hospital , Okitipupa, the Local Government Secretariat, the major hotels and the Army barracks , you know all of those significant places. They should approach concerned customers, have an understanding with them and ensure electricity is supplied to them . That was my presentation to BEDC at a time. (Getting agitated..) Of course, Steve, we made the electricity distribution company realise that it was wrong to cut off the entire senatorial district because of the claim that some customers defaulted. Disco has no right to disconnect power to an entire community, no! You can’t go to an area and cut off the entire area just like that! It is a customer by customer thing. But with the metering in place that will not happen again. Of course that’s also a matter for the National Electricity Regulation Council ( NERC) to deal with. Electricity Distribution Company do not have any of such right or power to go to an area and cut them off the grid. Nobody has that power; it’s like cutting power supply to an entire estate because a few customer defaulted in paying their bills. That will not be fair; that will outrightly kill development in the area. This is why intelligent meters must be in place. You can’t disconnect a customer who is paying bills up to date because his neighbors are defaulters. Do you send out an entire class home because few students didn’t pay school fees? What happened with the distribution company in Ikale Land and the entire Ondo south senatorial district was quite unfortunate but lack of responsive action by NERC made that possible and I think NERC should put its feet down firmly against such ugly situation across the country.
TP.net – Your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration so far?
Eng. Ife Oyedele: There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best administration we have had so far in this country. So many indices point to this fact: consider the area of corruption for example, everybody in this country is now aware of this phenomenon and it is clear that this administration has zero tolerance for corruption in its entirety . Though we are not there yet , things are looking up for this country as government is taking steps to stem the high level of corruption that had bedeviled the land in the time past. For the first time in the history of the country, former Governors belonging to the ruling party are being jailed . The judiciary has shaped up and it is running with this administration’s dream of stamping out corruption from the system. Just last week the court declared illegal the awards of hundred of millions of naira and other attendant perks appropriated as pension to ex Governors. Simply put, when the Executive is not corrupt , other arms of government will have the boldness to do what’s right and that is what is happening in the country right now. Take for instance an ex state executive who had hoped to hide and escape prosecution by coming to APC, he just got a sentence! Others who had corrupted the system and had come to seek solace in the party are being fished out and prosecuted properly. So, in the area of fighting corruption nobody can accuse the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of partiality in this respect. APC stalwarts who had committed their heist while in PDP are finding out to their chagrin that Apc is anti corruption prone in Creed and belief. Likewise in the area of fighting insurgency, despite the heckling of the opposition in the past, you can see that we are witnessing peace across the country today than before. Boko Haram is almost a thing of the past and kidnapping is even disappearing now. Of course, we still have a lot to do in the area of our economy, but I can tell you that a solid foundation is being laid by this government . Treasury single account (TSA) is a win-win situation for all of us . Arbitrariness and impunity of the past are fading away and of course the government coming in 2023 will have no option but to build on the success of this administration.
TP.ne – So, you mean we can’t compare this government to that of PDP?
Eng . Ife Oyedele: No basis for comparison my brother! No basis for comparison at all! APC under Buhari to the years of the locust that the PDP era of misrule was in this country? Don’t even go there!
TP.net – How about human rights ?
Eng. Ife Oyedele : See, it’s a relative thing. You see, in spite of all the noise about human rights, the developed countries are not complaining. I do not support the bill to clampdown on free speech. However, it’s instructive to note that The US Director of Information was at the Senate last week and he said that while the United States support that bill they should expunge the area offensive to freedom of speech . And I think that’s the problem we have with Nigeria; we have this mass hysteria when we discuss issues, we get carried away without discussing issues dispassionately. So we just throw away the baby together with the bathtub . Freedom should not be liberty for recklessness
TP.net – You are an APC stalwart from Ondo state . Do you have any political ambition?
Eng. Ife Oyedele : I don’t like to talk about ambition because it can be a very negative thing. But I assure you that I am very passionate about the state of my state. I am concerned about the state of sport development in the state. I think that in the area of sports more work is needed for us to get more significant output and befitting performance by our sports men and women in Ondo state. Ondo state cannot boast of any sport man or woman of repute on the national stage because there is no sporting program to identify talents and sharpen their skills and potentials to excell. The state still yearn for a state of the art stadium , so I am concerned about this issue! I am worried about the state of roads in the state as connecting routes across the state badly need repairs. I long for a state that has regular pipe borne water as its absence could spell doom anytime. The government of Ondo state has embarked on school repairs , but many schools still yearn for government touch across the state. I am particularly troubled that in Ikale, prospective admission seekers have to travel far to sit for JAMB examination because the entire senatorial district can not boast of a single ICT compliant center. Our young men and women are jobless and there is no skill acquisition center for them. So many industries around have collapsed except the ones the Chinese people are just locating around the Ore/ Omotoso axis. So together we all must collectively prepare for the future; that’s my passion for my state.
