As the impact of the lockdown continues to bite hard, the leadership of the House of Representatives and some members of the executives have agreed to set up a joint committee on implementation of the 2months free electricity initiative championed by the Speaker of the House, Femi Gnajabiamila.
The Leadership of the House led by the Speaker met with the Minister of Power, Mamman Sale; the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), James Momoh; Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Marilyn Amobi, as well as representatives of Distribution Companies.
Also at the meeting were the Majority leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa; Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno; Deputy Leader, Peter Akpatason; Deputy Chief Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, and the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Rep. Magaji Da’u Aliyu, and others.
Speaking during the meeting, Gbajabiamila disclosed the mandate of the Committee will be to look at “all the possibilities and implications and come up with a solution, so that the Nigerian poor can be taken care of during this period.”
He added that “Whatever the issues are within the power supply chain, they have to be dealt with and set aside, but how we deal with the issue at stake is why we are here today.
“This is not about technicalities or blaming any part of the power supply value chain; it is just about how we find a solution.
“The objective is very simple: we are asking people to stay at home for several days or weeks, so we need to make their stay at home comfortable. We need to help the poorest of the poorest at this time in Nigeria.
“How we go about it is why we are here today. So, the mandate is very simple with all the stakeholders here. I believe that the best stimulus that we can give our people right now is the supply of electricity to the very vulnerable households.”
Due to the spread of the pandemic, the President, Muhammadu Buhari recently extended lockdown of Lagos and Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while several states have also announced different restriction of movements.
