The House of Representatives for the second time this week stepped down the report which seeks to terminate the contract for the management of transmission, system operation and market operation undertakings between Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Manitoba Hydro International Limited (MHI) of Canada.
The initial three-year contract to manage TCN’s facility which expired on July 31, 2015, was extended by a year and slated to expire on the 31st July, 2016.
According to the House Committee on Power chaired by Daniel Asuquo (PDP-Akwa Ibom), the “management contract with MHI is not yielding that desired result, the contract of MHI must be terminated when it expires in June 2016.”
Meanwhile, the Committee urged that “adequate succession planning must be put in place with the effective establishment of the System Operator (SO) and the Transmission Service Provider (TSP) as provided by Section 25 of the EPSR Act. The Act does not provide for the existence of a Transmission Company of Nigeria after the dis-integration of the SO and the TSP.”
The recommendations were contained in the report on the investigative public hearing on the motion titled: “planned payment of N2.7 billion by the Board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to its members.”
One of the lawmakers who spoke under condition of anonymity on the rationale behind the non-consideration of the report, alleged that it was due to the interference of ‘Mafia’ among the Committee who truncated the report.
When asked to present the report, however, Asuquo requested that the report be stepped down for undisclosed reason.
In the bid to ensure effective discharge of its functions, the Committee urged the “President to immediately nominate the Commissioners of NERC in line with Section 34 of the EPSR Act so as to reinstate the regulatory function of the sector.”
On the N2.7 billion severance package, the committee however, proposed that “the statutory position of the remuneration of future Commissioners must be determined with respect to the standards set for such Agencies by the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and Pension Commission of Nigeria (PENCOM), to avoid the ambiguities of the past.”
It also urged Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) “must be compelled to monitor the activities of the successor companies for proper enforcement of regulations and performance agreements. They should establish full-proof internal control systems in order to optimize business processes with transparent reporting standards and enforcement of compliance to NERC regulatory operational procedures and guidelines. Internally, NERC should automate the tariff computation platform and ensure that all the parameters are appropriately dimensioned according to the rules of tariff computation.
“That NERC has failed to enforce its authority as a regulator by applying appropriate penalties and sanctions to defaults by market participants. This has resulted in laxity in compliance with the rules, regulations and orders instituted by the Agency. NERC regulation of market participants must be on real-time basis rather than periodic request for information. Responsible supervisory officers must be assigned and charged with the task of ensuring compliance.
“That the Tariff platform must be automated immediately in order to correct the anomalies in the parameters and assumptions in deriving the tariff. Electricity tariff reviews must be in accordance with statutory provisions and consultations with all stakeholders. Consumer protection is very important, both on pricing and service delivery. The Electricity tariff framework must be automated and made full-proof of human manipulation.
“That the House should mandate NERC to conduct a retroactive forensic audit and investigation of electricity delivered, invoiced, revenue collected and settlements made to the market participants from October 1, 2013 to date. This exercise would unveil the leakages and the culprits would be required to refund misappropriated funds.
“That the System Operator and Market Operator roles must be merged and licensed immediately to become the Independent System Operator (ISO) as provided by Section 25(b) of the EPSR Act. The ISO is the “engine room” of the Power Committee Report on NERC N2.7B Severance Package & Regulatory Activities electricity market and must be well constituted and equipped to perform its core functions as stated in the Act.
“That Insurgency attacks on economic assets have been rampant in recent years, particularly in the restive South-South zone. Failure to curb the attacks, appear to be due to the fact that the security forces have been more reactive than proactive. A robust decision support technology platform will have to be deployed that will serve as the repository for the network of pipeline infrastructure. The system will be a custom geospatial database monitored by a SCADA dashboard situated at the National Control Center (NCC).
“This system provides potential impacts of disruption and enables rapid access to the incident location. This could be integrated with a drone device for surveillance to guide the on-ground security in tracking the economic saboteurs.
“The second level of security could be imaginary perimeter electrocuting cables along the pipeline and transmission grid particularly in mangrove areas susceptible to attacks;
“The third level of security would be armed Civil Defence or navy operatives upon receiving incident signals and coordinates from the NCC. Proactive rapid response is achievable in potential impacts of disruption;
“That the House should urge the President to immediately nominate the Commissioners of NERC in line with Section 34 of the EPSR Act so as to reinstate the regulatory function of the sector; That the Rural Electrification Agency should be funded in line with Sections 89 and 90 of the EPSR Act,” the report stated.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA
