Power Ministry refutes National Newspaper publication alleging admittance of failure in Power Reform

ABUJA (Federal Ministry of Power News) – The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Power, Kande Daniel has rebuffed the content of the publication in the National Newspaper of June 11, 2014 claiming that the Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo did admit that the current power sector reform of the Federal Government has failed.

The statement which was delivered to the media on Friday June 13, 2014 indicated that the newspaper report claimed that the Minister’s speech emanated from the remark made at the General Electric (GE) Distribution Power Launch held on June 10, 2014 in Lagos. It further revered that despite the huge financial resources committed to the transformation of the power sector, the Minister of Power has admitted failure of the reform.
 
Kande Daniel, who described the claim as quite unfortunate, noted that the Minister of Power did not make the statement credited to him or inferred same. Adding, there is nowhere that the said report in the newspaper has justified the claim made concerning the Minister’s statement.
 
“The newspaper quoted the Minister as having said that the Federal Government is deeply worried that the current power situation is not capable of propelling industrialisation to grow the economy; therefore it is looking at other opportunities that will create power alternatives to communities. To quickly reach the identified communities, institutions and industrial clusters, government is providing the necessary support to the GE on the distribution of power application options,” he stated.
 
The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister said that contrary to the claim, the Minister in his speech referred to the unacceptable power situation in the country which the reform was meant to correct. He explained that the GE Distribution Power Launch event held in Lagos was part of the comprehensive efforts at redeeming the current power distribution situation which has dogged the nation’s power sector for decades.
 
According to him, the Minister couldn’t have admitted failure to the current reform, being one of the fundamental pillars on which the reform agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan stands. “Not only will it be disastrous, but it will ultimately spell doom for the country and its aspiration to become one of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 20-20.  It would have rather been most unfortunate for the Minister, who is supposed to drive the process if he becomes the culprit through whom such bad news would be given to Nigerians,” he observed.
 
“The correct position of things, which is being celebrated not only in Nigeria, but the world over is that the reform is a huge success, the vortex of the reform agenda is the liberalisation and private sector take-over of the electricity sector, which effect in the achievement may not have been felt at the moment, but Nigerians own the process as in other successful transformation efforts such as the telecoms sector.”
 
Daniel espoused on the Minister’s statement, saying he spoke on the private sector as the main driver of the reform and averred that the Federal Government did encouraged other options such as the efforts of companies like GE. He noted from the Minister’s speech that the power reform process has not failed and will not fail. He also affirmed that from the result so far achieved, there has been an improvement.