The Ministry of Power has denied the report that the Federal Government intends to hand over the nation’s electricity distribution to Siemens, a German company, months after the company signed an electricity deal with the Nigerian Government.
The Ministry, through a statement by its Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Aaron Artimas, said the transfer of electricity distribution wasn’t part of the deal both Siemens and the Nigerian Government signed.
It was stated that the Ministry of Power submitted a proposal to the government on the problem of distribution but it is left to the government to make a decision.
“Contrary to what is being reported, the minister did not say the Federal Government has submitted a proposal to the council seeking to hand over electricity distribution to Siemens as this is not part of the agreement signed between the German company and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The other thing I can tell you is that the government only signed a memorandum of understanding with the German company, Siemens, on how to leverage generation with transmission and distribution,” he stated.
The statement, however, further disclosed that the government was concerned about the disproportion of the value chain, and was seeking ways to align this chain for optimum distribution of power.
[READ MORE: Power: FG signifies financial commitment to Siemens agreement)
Nairametrics had reported, last year, that Nigeria and Siemens signed a power sector deal, which would lead to the production of 25,000MW of electricity in the country by 2025.
At the meeting between the presidency and the management of Siemens, government set a goal of achieving 7,000MW and 11,000MW of reliable power supply by 2021 and 2023 respectively. The Nigerian Electrification Roadmap deal could cost Nigeria about €3.11 billion or N1.15 trillion across four major states.
Did DisCos shortchange government? According to the statement, the distribution companies were accused of shortchanging the government after receiving 3,000 megawatts, only to pay for 1,000 megawatts.
Aaron Artimas added that subsidising the inefficiency of the distribution companies was not something the government could afford going forward.
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