ABUJA FEBRUARY 8, 2017 – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has queried the utilisation of N2.74 trillion spent on the power sector from 1999-2015, saying the sector depreciated more as more funds were pumped into it.
Dogara, who was spoke at a 2-day stakeholders Interactive dialogue/workshop on the Nigerian Power Sector organised by the National Assembly at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, also noted that the challenges faced by the sector called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address them.
“Perhaps the most important question is what happened to the N2.74 trillion spent on the sector from 1999-2015? Why is it that the more we spent on the power sector, the more darkness we attract?”, Dogara queried.
The Speaker said it was in order to change the epileptic power situation that the National Assembly organized the workshop as a platform for power sector experts and other stakeholders to do a holistic diagnosis of the challenges impeding the development of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and proffer practical solutions.
“These challenges run across the entire power value chain of generation, transmission and distribution. The myriad issues are apparently exacerbated by inadequate funding, poor energy mix, fuel supply issues, flawed regulatory framework, commercial issues among others. There is, therefore, a need for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address these myriad problems,” he stated.
“The diagnosis includes but is not limited to a critical analysis of the extant legislation and regulatory framework guiding the Nigerian Power Sector to determine if there is a need for amendments or enactment of new laws that will galvanize the sector to deliver the required results,” he added.
