By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Stakeholders from private and public sectors are to converge on Abuja on December 6th to develop a plan of action for resolving the many challenges facing the Nigerian power sector.
The event with the theme: “Consolidating the Privatisation of the Power Sector: Issues and challenges”, is to be chaired by the Minister of Power, Engr Abubakar Aliyu, while the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Nigeria Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Hussein Adamu will also address the gathering.
Tagged 1st Abuja Electric Power Conference, those billed to address the seminar include the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the Association of Electricity Generators of Nigeria, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, the Meters Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Electricity Consumers Group as well as each of the parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Power.
Also expected are power sector professionals, past and present operators of the sector alongside related Ministries such as the Federal Ministry of Water Resources on dams and power generation, Federal Ministry of Justice on power contracts controversy and Federal Ministry of Finance on government position on the 40 percent shareholding in the privatised generation and distribution companies.
Speaking on the forthcoming event organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the chairman of the planning committee, Mr. Olawale Rasheed said, the conference is designed to review and refocus on the consolidation of the ongoing privatisation and commercialisation of the Nigerian Power Sector.
He said Nigeria has taken and is still pursuing giant steps in the reform of the power sector adding that many issues have cropped up since the commencement of the privatisation exercise even as it has recorded successes and setbacks.
According to him, some of the objectives of the conference include; reviewing the privatisation outcomes; analysing the gains of the exercise, focusing on continuation of the exercise; assessing private sector’s role in the privatization process and proffering consolidated solutions to challenges of the privatization process.
“The gathering is a solution providing platform. We hope to generate a plan of action with timelines for deliverables which will be submitted to the Minister of Power. The Chamber is organising this event because power sector affects to a large extent the ease of operations of our members within and outside Abuja”, he said.
