Former Minister of Power Prof. Bart Nnaji has urged State governments to employ Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in procuring power infrastructure in their states.
He gave the charge in a paper presentation at the first quarter 2024 Nigeria Public Private Partnership Network (NPPPN) meeting which had as its theme: “The Decentralization of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the Role of the States in Rural Electrification: The Private Investor’s Perspective”.
This is coming on the heels of the passage of the Electricity Act of 2023 which empowers states to among others, procure and manage their power infrastructure.
The Nigeria Public-Private Partnership Network [NPPPN] was established in 2011 through collaboration between the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Lagos state PPP office, to create a platform for all states heads of PPP units nationwide; designed to serve as a knowledge and experience sharing forum to upscale the learning curve of public officers at the sub-national level of government on the Public-Private Partnership form of procurement.
Nnaji who is the CEO of Geometric Power LTD., in his presentation, said that although ownership and control of power infrastructure has been decentralized, it still wouldn’t be easy for states to wholly jump into it given the cost, technology implication and adverse competition where states seek to control the infrastructure.
“However, if the states decide that they want to be in control then we are going back to the NEPA days and that can be a serious problem,” he said.
He lauded the decentralization of electricity and stressed on the need to have a cost-reflective tariff to further encourage private sector participation and enforce regulations to curb power theft.
Earlier, the Director General of ICRC, Michael Ohiani said that the meeting afforded participants the opportunity to deliberate on the serious national issue of power.
“Every hand needs to be on deck as the nation cannot witness significant development in the absence of adequate Power supply” he said.
According to Ohiani, the theme presents an opportunity to brainstorm and proffer solutions to economic stagnation in states due to inadequate power supply and commended the 26 states in Nigeria that have enacted their PPP laws, stressing that the laws will incentivize private sector involvement in the state.
He pledged the support of the ICRC to help members of the Network seeking to undertake PPP projects and also states that want to enact their laws.
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