Nigeria power company ceases to exist in few weeks – Nebo

Nigeria said the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) will formally cease to exist once the proposed Transitional Electrical Market (TEM) is declared in few weeks time.

Minister of Power, Nebo

Minister of Power Prof. Chinedu Nebo said in Abuja on Tuesday after the inauguration of a 10-man management team of the newly created Electricity Management Services Limited (EMS).

“I CAN tell you that PHCN has almost ceased to exist now. Once the Transitional Electricity Market is declared in a few weeks time, that is the end of PHCN. Functionally, it has ceased to exist, but there must be a formal hand-over and once that takes place, they will finally cease to exist,” Nebo said

While expressing optimism that the formal handover of privatised PHCN companies will bring the life of the state-owned utility firm to an end,  Nebo explained that though the PHCN was no longer functional, there would be a formal handover in few weeks time, a development which will formally send the PHCN packing.

He stressed that the PHCN has functionally seized to exist following the privatisation of its successor generation and distribution companies, and would  finally go into extinction when TEM is officially declared based on the anticipated advice of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The minister said, “We have come very close to the end of PHCN. Basically, almost all of the staff members have been paid. What is left is independent retirement benefit that is going to be paid into their accounts. We are actually ready to handover and many of the companies are willing to takeover. The only thing is that the minister needs to declare a transitional electricity market and that will be done when all the conditions precedent to that declaration have been put in place,” he said, and added  that “NERC will advise me on when to do that, and NERC is actually having a retreat now to make sure that everything is in place before the declaration of the transitional electricity market.”

He further explained that the newly created EMS was one of the successor companies of the privatised PHCN, established to handle technical challenges that will arise in the post-privatisation era. According to him, EMS mandate includes providing all the needed ancillary and support services to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). These services amongst others include engineering laboratory, meter test stations, central store system, testing and certification as well as standardisation of equipment used in NESI will be the sole responsibility of EMS.

The minister adds: “When you have a situation as we have in Nigeria now, privatisation is almost coming to a conclusion, but we realised that there needs to be a body to ensure that certification of all electricity equipment, whether they are in generation, transmission, or distribution, that equipment that are being brought into Nigeria and facilities that are going to be used in the electricity industry are all top brands, and not fake equipment. You need stations, all over the country that are up and running. You don’t need to make it 100 per cent private enterprise.”