Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Monday lamented that Nigeria loses about $29 billion yearly to irregular and poor power supply.
Lawan stated this while declaring open an investigative public hearing on a motion entitled: “Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic” organised by the Senate Committee on Power, in Abuja.
Lawan said the country has spent N1.8 trillion on power since 2015 without anything to show for it
He said while he could not call for reversal of the privatisation of the sector by the Federal Government, there ought to be a review of the exercise to stop huge financial losses to the government on monthly.
He said instead of the power situation in the country to improve after privatisation as expected, the prospects of the sector have continued to dim with attendant losses.
According to him, the Share Purchase Agreement among the Federal Government, Distribution Companies (DisCos), Generating Companies (GenCos), during the exercise is responsible for the loss of between N12billion and N15 monthly.
He insisted that the country could not be competitive or make sustainable progress without sustainable power.
Lawan said: “So, for us in the National Assembly, particularly in the Senate, we have been very concerned. I believe that we all understand how Nigeria has remained undeveloped, especially when we are talking about manufacturing, empowering our artisans, the vulcanisers, the barbers. Nigeria cannot be competitive.’’
