Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to putt the remaining 40 per cent shares in electricity companies up or sale to state governments. The advice was part of his remarks while chairing the presentation ceremony of a report, “From Darkness To Darkness”, made by a civil society organisation, Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP).
“After analyzing the reasons for the abysmal failure of the electricity sector reform, the report has demanded that the remaining public ownership of the 40% shares in the electricity companies be further privatized to avoid using government public resources to subsidize private entities. With respect, since the privatization of public enterprises has resulted in the fraudulent sale of public assets to private individuals, I am of the firm view that state governments, trade unions and other organized groups should be afforded the opportunity to buy the remaining 40% shares in the electricity sector,”
Mr. Falana said “As the constitutional power of the National Assembly to legislate in respect of electricity is limited to the establishment of electric power stations, the generation and transmission of electricity from one state to another state governments are constitutionally mandated to establish State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to licence interested investors to participate and engage in off-national grid electricity generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in line with item 14 in the concurrent legislative list in the Constitution,” Falana stated.
“I fully agree with the view expressed in the report that the vesting of Rural Electrification Agency, Rural Electrification Fund and Rural Electrification Project in the hands of the Federal Government is patently unconstitutional,” he further stated.
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