Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the Nigerian electric power sector is not performing optimally, a development he said must change for the better.
Gbajabiamila said, however, that Nigerians are in agreement that it is “the responsibility of the government to do something about this situation.”
Declaring open a public hearing on the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (Amendment) Bill and three others organised by the House Committee on Power, chaired by Magaji Da’u Aliyu, on Tuesday at the National Assembly, Gbajabiamila said the House was ready to carry out a long-overdue legislative reform of the sector.
He said: “Every Nigerian understands that the electric power sector in Nigeria is not performing optimally. Most people recognise that a situation where we cannot expect 24-hour electricity in our cities and many rural areas remain wholly disconnected from the benefits of access to electricity is unacceptable.
“We all, for the most part, agree that it is the responsibility of the government to do something about this situation.”
Gbajabiamila said ordinary citizens, power industry operators, regulators and government all have different understandings of why the dysfunction in the power sector exists and persists and that “there are just as many ideas and recommendations for how to fix it.”
He noted that the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005 is a substantial piece of legislation and remains the most significant statutory reform of the power sector in Nigeria for a generation.
“When it was written and passed into law, it was intended that the provisions of the Act would establish a new framework for optimal public-private sector collaboration to accelerate development in the power sector and promote efficiency across the power sector value chain.
“The extent to which these expectations have been met is one of the many issues in contention. Answering the question of what needs to be done to improve the Act so that it serves the best purposes of our country is the reason we have gathered here in this public hearing.”
He said the public hearing was an opportunity for stakeholders, both in government and the private sector, to participate in a structured conversation and contribute views that will help the House “undertake a long-overdue reform of one of the critical legislation governing the operations of the power sector in Nigeria.”
In considering the Bills, he urged the stakeholders to set aside all other considerations except those that are in the best interests of Nigeria and assured them that the House would do everything “within its constitutional authority to consider and safeguard all interests within reason.”
He commended the chairman and members of the House Committee on Power for their hard work on the bills and appreciated the efforts of all who worked to improve the legislative proposal to this advanced stage.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Da’u said the hearing was considered necessary to enable the committee to utilise the outcome of the exercise to address gaps in the existing laws to strengthen the Nigerian power sector for efficient service delivery.
Saying that the committee was overwhelmed by the support of the leadership of the House led by the speaker, Hon. Da’u assured of the committee’s determination to provide a conducive platform to generate information that would enrich the proposals.
He said the committee would discharge its responsibility in line with its legislative mandate.
Also, Gbajabiamila has assured of the House determination to implement a wholesale reform of Customs and Excise operations in Nigeria.
In doing so, Gbajabiamila said, the House needed the support of relevant stakeholders, whose contributions are critical in the legislative process that would strengthen customs operations.
The speaker said this when he declared open a one-day public hearing on the Nigeria Customs Service (establishment) Bill, 2021, organized by the House Committee on Customs and Excise, chaired by Leke Abejide.
He said the bill was the product of a coordinated effort by the House, “working with stakeholders in the sector, to implement a wholesale reform of customs and excise operations in Nigeria.
“This effort is long overdue, and much needed to address existing challenges with customs enforcement, ports efficiency, smuggling prevention, efficient collection and remittance of government revenue and the proper implementation of government fiscal measures.
“Whether or not we will succeed in these objectives depends largely on the stakeholders gathered here today and the contributions you make to the legislative process.”
Gbajabiamila said the Covid-19 pandemic has, among other things, led to a significant decline in global demand for fossil fuels, which coupled with other factors unique to Nigeria, depleted Nigeria’s revenue generation from oil and gas.
“This reality is a stark manifestation of the ongoing need to diversify our nation’s economy to improve income from non-oil and gas sources.
“It is also evidence of the need to use the instruments of legislative authority to promote policies and enact mandates to encourage investment, enable commercial activity and promote enterprise in the country.
“Ensuring that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) operates optimally in executing its statutory functions without corruption and malfeasance of any sort is essential to achieve these other objectives. And this is what we hope to achieve with the Bill under consideration.”
He encouraged all the stakeholders to take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the public hearing to express their opinions and make informed contributions that would improve the bill to the benefit of Nigerians.
The committee chairman, Abejide, had earlier in a welcome address said in today’s competitive world, the Nigeria Customs Act, its regulations and operational guidelines “are archaic, obsolete, and no longer in tandem with modern-day challenges and this has unfortunately reduced measurably the accruing revenue against the volume of trade.”
Thus, he said, the public hearing would provide an opportunity “of transforming the Nigeria Customs Service to being the most potent revenue collecting body in Africa, and to making it the most efficient, streamlined, technologically driven, and people-friendly agency of the Nigerian Government.”
