Expert blames infrastructure decay for poor power supply
Eyo Ekpo, a member
of the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP), says the high level of
infrastructure decay and wide gap in investment are major impediments
to effective power supply.
Mr Ekpo, Head,
Regulatory and Transactions Monitoring Unit of the task force, said
this on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in
Lagos.
He said that the
nation’s power supply had been hindered for years by limited
generation, transmission capacities, obsolete equipment and unreliable
distribution network.
Mr Ekpo said that
over-bloated and inefficient workforce were also obstacles to meeting
the national power demand approximated at between 10,000 and 15,000MW.
He said that the power generation level had even declined while demand
was on the rise.
“This problem has
apparently trickled down to the transmission and distribution arms of
the sector. The manifestation is the perpetual power failure and
shortage being witnessed across the nation. But in all fairness, I
think this is simply unacceptable if we consider the fact that
countries like South Africa, Egypt and Ghana enjoy better generation
capacities,” Mr Ekpo said.
He added that the
lack of investment in power generation, transmission and distribution
were the major factors inhibiting the growth of the sector.
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