Don’t pay for electricity after 2 weeks of outage – NERC announces new regulations (See details)

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has asked Nigerians not to pay for meter service charge and the electricity bill if there is outage for more than two weeks.

NERC said that the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) regulation has stopped the electricity Distribution Companies from collecting energy and service charges after two weeks of power outage.

Its chairman, Prof. James Momoh, broke the news at the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) launch of the MAP in Abuja on Friday.

The General Manager, Finance and Management Services, Abudukadir Shetima, who represented the Chairman, said that with the MAP regulation, the meters must be installed not later than 10 days after payment.

According to him, should the DisCo refuse to replace a malfunctioning meter after two days, the customer is not expected to make any payment.

He said that NERC, DisCos and the customers have their deadline to provide the meters to the customers at the required time.

He said the regulation was designed in a manner that regards the consumer as the king in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) value chain.

The customer, he said, is expected to have the best services.

He added, “Deadlines were provided in the regulation for the DisCos, even the commission so that we don’t delay so that the customers get the service at the time that it is required.

“For instance, if a meter is about to be installed, it must be installed within 10 days of making payment. There will be sanctions if that deadline is not met.

“Number two, to ensure there will be sanction, the MAP has been asked to provide a bank performance guarantee that will be called upon. So they will lose money if they delay in providing the meters even by one day.

“Number two, if the meters get bad, they will be replaced by the MAP without any payment for the entire ten years period.

“If the meters don’t work they must be replaced within two days, if they are not replaced within two days, the customer will not make the monthly customers service charge payment. That payment will be seized.

“Another part of the regulation is that if there is a prolonged outage and they are out of electricity for months, in addition to other measure that the commission is taking to address those kind of scenarios, the customer will not pay for the meter service charge and will not even pay for the electricity if there is outage for more than two weeks.”

Listing the objective of the regulation, Momoh said the first important objective is the removal of estimated billing in order to remove the controversies around it.

He added: “The customers are happy to make the payment. The second issue is revenue assurance, happy customers will be willing to pay.

“Nigerians are willing to pay for the services they can get so that there will be revenue assurance and that will impact on the industry as a whole. Currently, the revenues in the industry are nit sufficient to enable investments and better services. So, it is like a vicious circle and this this metering is intended to correct that problem.”

Speaking, the AEDC Managing Director, Engr. Ernest Mupwaya, revealed that altogether the company has planned to meter the customers in its franchise areas with 900,000 meters.

He said that bearing in mind that the customers would increase, the meter vendors would also cater for their metering.

He said: “In all, 900,000 customs have been scheduled for metering in AEDC franchise area in the first instance. Being a moving target, we are aware that the number may increase and as it does, the vendors will take them along.”

- DAILY POST

FACE OF HERDSMEN KILLER !! Miyetti Allah deserves respect, Garba Shehu replies Afenifere, Ohanaeze

Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says the presidency is pleased that Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo groups found its statement worthy of attention.

Speaking when he featured on a programme on Channels Television, Shehu had likened the  Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) to Ohanaeze and Afenifere, saying the group should not be criminalised.

Both groups had replied Shehu, asking him not to compare them with Miyetti Allah.

Replying the groups in a statement issued on Friday, Shehu said the presidency is pleased that “Afenifere and Ohaneze Ndigbo found our insights worthy of attention even when they disagreed with our view”.

Shehu added that dialogue remains an important tool under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. He also said criminals cut across all divides and not restricted to just one ethnic group.

Shehu said: “The point both socio-cultural groups missed, however, by insisting that government should not to talk to Miyetti Allah is the need to address and engage Nigeria’s ethnic, religious, cultural and economic plurality. The need to engage all groups of Nigeria is as much relevant today as it was then.

“The Presidency’s position is that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is equipped to address these issues. The security challenges faced by Nigeria today make the task of addressing the issues very urgent.

“Miyetti Allah, like any other trade, community, ethnic organization or interest group is a legal stakeholder in our nation and should be respected. We maintain that the government needs to engage all stakeholders and seek partnership in building our country.

“It is right to state that there are criminals among every group in Nigeria and in every country. There are criminals among the northern population as there are in the southern part of the country. It is not good to generalise blames.

“As the President has stated time and again, transparency and dialogue are essential for public enlightenment and nation building.”

Shehu dismissed the allegation that the federal government plans to allegedly appease MACBAN with N100 billion.

According to him, even if Miyetti Allah had demanded money, “this government would have dismissed them as yet another dubious group”.

“The issue of money was never raised at any of the meetings between the representatives of government and Miyetti Allah. If they had raised it, this government would have dismissed them as yet another dubious group, like the many making claims to be representing our trusting people but serving their own interests,” he said.

“The people spreading such rumours should be helped to see the truth and participate in nation building, and not become crisis messengers.”

- THECABLE

‘Endorsement of failure’ — PDP mocks APC governors over award to Buhari

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the presentation of award by the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to President Muhammadu Buhari as an unprofitable celebration and a poor endorsement of failure.

Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman for the PDP, made this known in a statement on Friday, after Buhari was presented the award.

The main opposition party also said the award was given on the basis of deception, adding that such was an insult to Nigerians living in pains, as well as victims of unrestrained killings in various parts of the country.

Ologbondiyan said the Buhari’s administration and the APC are engaging in script acting aimed at painting a false image of their administration.

He said the party was engaging in such unprofitable celebration at a time when its mandate is being questioned.

He advised the party to seek solutions to the numerous insecurity issues in the country, rather than sponsoring scandalous whitewashing projects.

“It is disturbing that at a time genuine leaders are exerting themselves for solutions to the myriads of crisis plaguing our nation, those elected on the platform of the APC are busy playing to gallery and acting scripts while our nation continues to slide; the very reason Nigerians voted for Atiku Abubakar on February 23, as their preferred presidential candidate,” PDP said.

“The Buhari presidency and the APC have chosen to engage in endless unprofitable celebrations in the safety of Aso Villa while Nigerians are left at the mercies of bandits, kidnappers, marauders and insurgents in their homes and workplaces.

“The PDP counsels president Buhari to end the circus at the Presidency and face the stark reality of the dejection, despondency and misery Nigerians have been subjected to due to his incompetence as well as insensitivity to the plight of the citizens.”

- THECABLE

YEYE PEOPLE !! Why we’re building more prisons across Nigeria – FG

Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Minister of Interior, has explained why the Federal Government is investing in the building of prisons across the country.

Dambazau spoke at the commissioning of some projects and newly acquired vehicles at the Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) headquarters in Abuja on Friday.

According to him, most of the existing prisons in the country were over a century and needed to be replaced

“We are building prisons but we are not increasing the number of prisons”, he said.

“Most likely, we are reducing it. Most of our prisons are more that a century old. What we are doing is to build new ones that meets the global standard.”

He said the new direction of the current administration was to focus on the persons involved in criminal acts and not the crime itself, saying it was the only way to reform offenders.

“We have shifted focus from the crime to the criminals. We are not seeking vengeance for the fact that the offender is human and can change,” he said.

He urged the NPS to take good care of the vehicles and other projects executed by the government.

Dambazau further stated that there would be more improvements in the Service when the Nigerian Prisons and Correctional Service bill is finally accented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

- DAILY POST

BACKWARD COUNTRY ! BACKWARD THINKING !! Four Indian Hemp farmers arrested in Ondo as NDLEA destroys hectares of Cannabis farms

Four suspected Cannabis Sativa farmers, commonly known as Indian Hemp, have been nabbed by men of the Ondo State Command of the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

The suspects, who were arrested by the agency in an Indian Hemp farm while harvesting the illicit plant, have been identified as Friday Azum, 30; Friday Umuvole, 26; Uba Abanum and John Akor 29.

According to the state Commander of the agency, Haruna Gagara, the suspects were found with 45kg of Indian Hemp upon their arrests.

The NDLEA boss also disclosed that during the operation, which took place at Bolorunduro community in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, 106 hectares of Indian Hemp farms were destroyed.

“The cannabis were seized from the suspects, while 106 hectares of fresh hemp cultivation were destroyed.”

The NDLEA commander, however, frowned at the rate at which youth in the state were getting involved in the illicit trade and usage.

He called on community heads, chiefs and youth leaders in the society to be vigilant and always be mindful of persons they lease their lands to, warning that “ignorance will not be an excuse when caught”.

Gagara maintained that the suspects would be charged to court after investigations are concluded.

- DAILY POST

Angola Airlines to begin operation in Nigeria June 10

The Angolan Minister of External Relations, Mr Manuel Augusto, says Angola Airlines will commence operations in Nigeria by June to enhance trade relations between the two countries.

Augosto in Abuja said that the Central African country was putting in place measures to deepen its bilateral relations with Nigeria

“As you know we have Arik Airlines from Nigeria flying to Angola.

“From the next month – June 10, I think the Angola Airline will start flying to Nigeria because there is increase in the inflow of passengers from both countries.

“As you know that Angola is also a transit for other continents like South America and it is one of the few of African countries that fly to Brazil daily,” he said.

The envoy said that both countries had agreed to follow up on the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed on the Bilateral Air Service Agreement between them.

He said that Nigeria and Angola had also agreed to hold sixth bilateral commission as soon as possible, which would be followed by the Angola-Nigeria business forum by business people from both sides.

“So, all these make the cooperation between Nigeria and Angola very important; there are lots of Nigerian businessmen in Angola.

“However, what both governments need to do is to create better environment for them to do their businesses,” he said.

He said that Angola was in construction mood and wants to diversify its economy, adding that Nigeria also needed to diversify its economy.

He said that both countries had relied too much on oil, which he said was not wise.

“We see that this is not wise, we are working together, we want to see what we can do to take advantage of each other experiences or potentials.

So, the future for the cooperation between Angola and Nigeria is very bright and we will do our part to set up institutions to create the condition.

The minister denied that Nigeria businessmen were ever arrested or harassed by the Angolan security agencies as being claimed in a video on social media.

Augusto said that the video was fake and did not emanate from Angola.

According to him, Angolan government is putting in place measures to ensure conducive environment for the development of economy and business in the country.

- PM NEWS 

EMPTY PROMISES !!! President Buhari makes fresh promises to Nigerians

President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration remained committed to improving the welfare of all citizens as well as tackling the challenges of insecurity in the country.

The president stated this at an award ceremony organised in his honour by the Progressive Governors’ Forum, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

According to him, insecurity remains the greatest challenge confronting the nation but government will not relent in its effort to address the problem.

Buhari, therefore, enjoined the citizens to cooperate and support security agencies in addressing the challenges of insecurity across the country as “security is a collective responsibility’’.

“You are all quite aware that insecurity has remained a big challenge for us all but we are determined to face this challenge and secure the country more than ever before.

“While the protection of lives and property is the primary responsibility of government, it is also incumbent on the citizens to share in this responsibility as security is a collective responsibility.

“You will all agree with me that Nigeria is on a renewed growth trajectory. Accordingly, we will do all within our powers to sustain the current economic recovery efforts.

“We will continue to reinforce our micro-economic policies to achieve sustainable economic stability and growth.

“We will also continue to ensure the growth comes along with more jobs and a fair and just distribution of the national wealth.

“I thank you for your continued patience and sacrifices in moving the nation forward. We remain committed to improving the welfare of the Nigerian people.

“It will be labouring the point to say that true federalism is necessary at this juncture of our political and democratic evolution,

“We need to build bridges across the different divides and institute faith in the unity and indivisibility of one Nigeria,’’ he said

Buhari called on State Governments to be pillars of the ongoing anti-corruption agenda and to continue partner with the Federal Government to deliver more democratic dividends to citizens across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that out-going governors of Borno (Kashim Shettima), Imo (Rochas Okorocha), Nasarawa (Tanko Al-Makura), Ogun (Ibikunle Amosun), Oyo (Abiola Ajimobi), Yobe (Ibrahim Gaidam), Zamfara (Abdulaziz Yari) and former governor of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola were also honoured with awards during the occasion.

- DAILY POST