The electricity generation companies have criticised the requests by the Senate for a reversal of the privatisation of the power sector.
The Gencos also disclosed that the debt of the power sector to electricity producers had risen to about N1tn since November 2013 when the industry was privatised.
The Gencos, in contrast to the Senate, explained that reversing the privatisation of the sector was not the solution to the current abysmal status of the power industry.
“It is very pertinent to state that the reversal of the privatisation exercise of 2013 is not the solution to resolving the current abysmal state of the sector,” the Association of Power Generation Companies, an umbrella body for the Gencos, said in a statement.
The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, recently called for the reversal of the power sector privatisation, which according to him, had failed to deliver.
Although the Gencos sympathised with Nigerians over the poor state of power supply, it remarked that the current situation was negatively affecting its operations and jeopardising its investments.
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The Gencos explained that soon after the privatisation, it became obvious that key guidelines set by the Bureau of Public Enterprises and operators, as stipulated in the governing contract, had still not been activated.
“This has led to a huge outstanding debt of approximately N1tn owed to Gencos from the inception of privatisation till date,” they explained.
The power producers said they only received a payment of between 11 to 30 per cent of their invoiced amount on a monthly basis.
