The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has commended the management team of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) for the achievements the agency has recorded in the last year assuring the Agency of the support of the National Assembly in the discharge of its Mandate.
This assurance was given by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe when he led members of the Committee on an oversight visit to the NEMSA Corporate Headquarters in Abuja on Monday 21st October, 2024.
He said that members of the committee were in NEMSA to carry out its statutory oversight function in line with the Senate Rules and the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) .
His words: “We are here to carry out our oversight statutory duty as required by law. We expect during this visit to be apprised of the following:
“Give us NEMSA’s scorecard with regards to the discharge of its mandate of enforcement of electrical standards and regulations, technical inspection, testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations, electricity meters and instruments to ensure the efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable and sustainable electricity power and guarantee safety of lives and property in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI)and other Allied industries and work places
“We also expect briefing from NEMSA with regards to all ongoing and completed projects nationwide
“We will also like to learn from the management of NEMSA the milestone so far achieved and if there is any challenge that will require legislative intervention, they should let us know
“ And where the logistics of this committee permit, we would also carry out physical inspection of some ongoing and completed projects”.
Senator Abaribe lamented the frequent grid collapse in the country despite the huge money sunk into the sector over the years, adding that the Senate was ready to support NEMSA to ensure that such ugly incidences are nipped in the bud.
“What is it you’re doing that we have eight grid collapses within one year.? We want to know why we are having these problems after the massive investment by government in the power sector”,
“ I want to assure you the MD/CEO and the Management of NEMSA that the Senate will look into how the Agency could be given regulatory power to sanction those found culpable in contravening safety standards in the power sector”, he added.
In his presentation to the Committee, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEMSA who also doubles as the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation (CEIF), Engr. Aliyu Tukur Tahir, FNSE, thanked members of the Committee for the visit to the NEMSA headquarters stressing that NEMSA was the creation of the National Assembly via the NEMSA ACT of 2015 and the new Electricity Act 2023. He praised the committee and those of the House of Representatives for their unflinching support to the agency since its establishment and pledged the determination of the NEMSA Management and Staff under his leadership to ensure effective and efficient discharge of its mandate.
The MD/CEO highlighted the mandate, activities and achievements of the Agency in the last one year saying all indices point to a remarkable improvement over that of the previous year (2022 to 2023). He however, requested the Senate through the Committee on Power to amend the existing Electricity Act 2023 to provide for the following
- Establishment of an Electricity Offences Tribunal with an in-built appeal system for faster dispensation of electricity related offences
- Vest NEMSA in-house Counsel with powers to prosecute electricity offences
- For standardization of the networks and safety of lives and property, technical regulations made by NERC should apply across the multi -tier levels
- Establishment of Metering Maintenance and Recertification Funds to be able to cater for the recertification of the electricity meters in-circuit and for enforcement of condition for installation of meters and instruments by NEMSA
- Amendment of the Phrase “Nothing in this Act shall invalidate any law passed by the House of Assembly of a State” under Section 2 of the Electricity Act 2023, to align it with Section 4 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended), which provides for the Doctrine of covering the field
- Section 164 ( c )of the Electricity Act 2023 which reads, “ issues technical standards and certification procedures for technical personnel participation in renewable energy projects taking into cognizance the need to promote local skills and local requirements for renewable energy projects” should be expunged because it is in conflict with NEMSA mandate on certification of electrical/technical personnel.
- In section 176 (j), the phrase “renewable energy installations” should be inserted after the word “installations”
The MD/CEO further informed the Senators that in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023 and the Nigerian Constitution, NEMSA had began moves to collaborate, cooperate and partner with national and sub-national stakeholders in the NESI to enhance performance by ensuring safety of lives and property which he said is the core mandate of the Agency.
Furthermore, Engr. Tahir identified inadequate funding as a major constraint to the discharge of the NEMSA mandate. He said this has made it difficult for NEMSA to amongst other things; acquire its own permanent headquarters building as well as cope with its activities which include, technical inspection, testing and certification of power systems and networks nationwide with long distance coverage by the NEMSA inspectorate Field offices.
The MD/CEO said lack of funds has also hampered the effective monitoring of existing networks and other power infrastructure all of which require numerous trips by NEMSA personnel to various locations across the country, staff training/capacity building programmes, maintenance and renovation of facilities, provision of modern Test Equipment and Operational vehicles, recruitment of experience technical and support staff and replacement of aged operational vehicles, amongst other challenges.
In attendance at the Meeting include Senators- Enyinnaya Abaribe (Chairman), Mohammed Adamu Aliero, Kustapha Khabeeb, Ireti Kingibe, Austin Akobundu, Peter Jifa, and Benson Friday Konbowei. Also in attendance were NEMSA Executive Director (Corporate Services, Mr. Ashibel Utsu, Executive Director (Commercial) Ms.Chinwe Onovo, General Managers and other senior management staff of the NEMSA
