Electricity distribution companies on Sunday reacted officially to the takeover/restructuring of five Discos; by the Federal Government through the Bureau of Public, describing the move as a backdoor renationalisation of the power firms.
They claim that investors in the 11 Discos were shortchange by BPE when the facilities were privatise in November 2013, while the government had failed to pay the N100bn subsidy on electricity since the privatisation of the sector.
Speaking under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, an umbrella body for the power firms; the Discos expressed concern about the restructuring of the five companies as announced by BPE on July 5, 2022; in collaboration with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The notice was signed by the Director-General, BPE, Alex Okoh; and Executive Chairman, NERC, Sanusi Garba. The Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, ANED, Sunday Oduntan, said that the association viewed the restructuring to be inconsistent with all the guidelines necessary to comply with the framework of privatisation agreements and the rule of law.