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President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday unveiled his strategy to end chronic power shortages in the country, shifting the goalpost for the achievement of uninterrupted electricity supply to December 2012.
Jonathan said while launching the new National Electric Power Roadmap in Lagos that power plants with 5000mw generating capacity would begin production in 2012 and 2013, and that government would completely hands off the sector to private operators.



He said the government would provide the private sector with credit financing to participate in the sector, but added that government would still retain its hold on transmission which would be managed by the private sector.


The president said the energy tariff in Nigeria was the lowest in West Africa, and that it would be adjusted soon in line with government’s earlier plans. But he assured Nigerians that the new tariff would not be too exorbitant for ordinary consumers.

The Federal Government estimated that it would need annual investment of $6 billion over the coming years if it is to meet domestic energy needs, and is seeking to woo foreign investors with pledges to improve its regulatory environment.

Launching the roadmap yesterday, Jonathan assured workers that their interest would not be compromised in the liberalisation of the industry.

“It should be obvious that the electricity industry can only expand just like telecommunications industry grew after the introduction of liberalisation.

“Existing PHCN staff will expectedly form the nucleus of the workforce of the new private sector-driven electricity industry.

“It, therefore, will be to their benefit to see reform in the sector as a panacea for progress in their individual lives and the growth of the sector,” he said.

Jonathan said the Federal Government has reconstituted the board Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission to position it for effective service. He said the names of the commissioners would be sent to National Assembly on Monday.

“I also took part to select the Chairman and he has the same pedestal with INEC chairman. We decided to do so because we need a revolution in the power sector,” he added.

The plans unveiled yesterday are the most comprehensive blueprint yet designed to solve the nation’s power problems, experts say.

“This roadmap brings us to a point where we finally have a realistic plan that is actually technically, commercially sound, in terms of the role of the private sector, the role of government,” World Bank country director Onno Ruhl said, according to a report filed by Reuters news agency

“The question is, will all the partners behind it actually rally around it and implement it ... If it gets implemented, it will deliver results,” he said.

Petroleum Minister Deziani Allison-Madueke said gas supply to the power sector was already at an all-time high but estimated that demand from domestic energy producers would rise to 3 billion cubic feet per day by 2015 from around 800 million now.

Jonathan has already announced plans for a $3.5 billion transmission “supergrid” to be jointly financed with the private sector, while the privatisation agency has said it is seeking core investors for 11 state-run electricity distribution firms.

The new uninterrupted power supply deadline was coming after the successive failure of earlier targets. The Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration targeted December 2000, December 2007 and December 2009 but failed all of them, while the late Umaru Yar’adua’s government unsuccessfully pledged to uphold the 2009 deadline.

Jonathan also said government had budgeted N57billion for the payment of monetisation arrears and other entitlements to electricity workers, who called off an indefinite strike yesterday.