House of Reps Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila reacts to viral video of actress Ada Ameh weeping over poor power supply
House of Reps Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila reacts to viral video of actress Ada Ameh weeping over poor power supply
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday April 1st, met with the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman and the management of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, over the viral video by Nollywood actress, Ada Ameh, in which she complained bitterly about lack of power supply in most Nigerian homes, during the ongoing lockdown in major parts of the country.
With the Speaker at the meeting was the Minority Leader, Rep. Ndudi Elumelu; and Deputy Minority Whip, Rep. Adesegun Adekoya. While NERC was represented by its Commissioner on Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, those that joined the meeting via virtual connection were Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed; Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele; and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mele Kyari.
At the meeting, the Speaker expressed dismay over the number of calls and messages from many Nigerians through his social media account, reacting to the protest video and called for prompt action.
The complaints have just been too much in the last 24 hours. There are people also in the hospital now without electricity; we need to brainstorm over an urgent solution," he said
On his part, the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, highlighted the challenges encountered by power generating compaies (GENCOs) and the possible intervention of the leadership of the House of Representatives.
So, the GENCOs are facing technical and revenue shortfall. Consequently, they can’t as well meet their financial obligations to gas companies. The Discos also pay less of their generated revenue to GENCOs, because they complain about power theft by consumers, high technical costs, etc.
In his contribution, the NERC Commissioner on Compliance, Mr. Akpaneye, assured the Speaker and the leadership of the House that the commission is committing the Discos to a new guideline that shows empathy with Nigerians during this COVID-19 lockdown.
Also speaking, the GMD of NNPC, Kyari hinted that the problem with the Trans Vocados gas line was resolved Wednesday morning and gave assurance of supply of gas to enable GENCOs to generate power.
The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, in their various contributions, gave accounts of complications arising from the non-fulfilment of financial obligations by the electricity stakeholders but assured of interventions in the interest of Nigerians who are observing the lockdown order.
At the end of the meeting, all the critical stakeholders assured the Speaker and the leadership of the House of their commitment to ensuring power supply. They, however, agreed to reconvene in the next few days to find lasting solutions to the challenges in the sector beyond the lockdown period.
Watch the video of actress Ada Ameh weeping over poor electricity supply below.
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