Governors across the country have opposed the ongoing effort of the Senate to amend the Electricity Act through the Electricity Bill 2022.
If they had their way, the proposed amendment would be an exercise in futility.
The governors argued that the bill is against the interest of the states because it seeks to re-establish a centrally-controlled electricity sector.
Their position is contained in a letter by the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Dr Kayode Fayemi, to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Gabriel Suswam.
Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu supported the governors saying if the Bill is passed, it would erode his supervisory powers.
Fayemi, who is Ekiti State governor, in the letter dated February 22, argued that the governors were averse to the Electricity Bill in the version currently before the Senate.
The governors faulted Suswam’s claim in an article that the Electricity Bill 2022 is based on recommendations put together by a team of consultants engaged by the Senate Committee on Power.
According to them, the Electricity Bill before the Senate Committee is not a true and fair reflection of stakeholders’ interest in the electricity sector and is neither a true and fair reflection of the Federal executive arm.
They further argued that contrary to the views of the Chairman of the Senate Committee of Power, “Clause 2(2) of the Bill is rather injurious to the constitutional rights of states with regards to electricity generation, transmission, and distribution.
“Limiting the powers of state governments to build generation plants, transmission and distribution lines only in areas not covered by the national grid shrinks the powers of states to make laws for electricity within their state jurisdictions,” the governors said.
