The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has disclosed that the federal government has approved N39 billion loan to Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) for the supply of meters.
The minister made the disclosure on Monday in Kano at the 18th Monthly Power Sector Stakeholders Meeting hosted by Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO).
He said the gesture is part of the power sector recovery programme of the government aimed at ensuring uninterrupted power generation and distribution.
“It is also aimed at ending the series of complaints by consumers who applied for meters but were not supplied at the appropriate time,’’ he said.
The minister explained that the successful implementation of the power sector recovery programme would assist in resolving the conflict between distributors and consumers over tariff collection.
According to him, power generation improved in 2017 to 6,863 megawatts compared to 2016, due to the increase in the government’s efforts to end rampant vandalism of gas pipelines.
Fashola said presently, the federal government is generating electricity beyond the carrying capacity of distribution companies, “which is a serious challenge to our efforts.’’
