Nigeria’s president Buhari charged DISCOs on electricity

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President said Tuesday that his administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure that operators in the business of electricity distribution, the DISCOs, live up to expectations of Nigerians.

The President stated this in his broadcast to the nation to mark the 19th year of Nigeria’s nascent democracy and the 3rd anniversary of his administration in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said that the country had recorded impressive improvement in power generation and distribution in the past three years.

He, therefore, charged operators in the system to enhance their services, especially in distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

“In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators.

“This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

“The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017.

“With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitation by the Government and private investors, generation capability now exceed 7,500 MW,’’ the president said.

In transportation, Buhari said that the sector had continued to undergo series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security.

According to him, the nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals.

He said that the new terminals were due for inauguration in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu.

The president expressed the hope that Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the governments of other countries would significantly open up new flight routes.

He said: “As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.

“Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos.

“This will save the country an estimated 90 million dollars annually.’’

Buhari stated that giant strides had been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geopolitical zones of the country.

He added that railway sub-sector had also received tremendous attention as a government was committed to the goal of linking all state capitals by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers. (NAN)