Power supply worsened in March – Survey

    
Power supply to states across the federation worsened in the month of March, a survey released on Tuesday by NOI Polls, a notable indigenous survey organisation, has revealed.

This is coming as investors in the country’s power assets attributed their poor performance during the period to gas supply constraints as a result of incessant gas pipeline vandalism perpetuated by miscreants.

The poll results revealed that the situation of power nationwide worsened in March, and stated that majority of Nigerians, 54 per cent, claimed that power had gone bad or worsened.

It said another 17 per cent revealed that they saw no difference at all, bringing the figure to a total of 71 per cent.

It said, “This month shows an all-time low rating of power, 29 per cent for those who experienced an improvement, over the 15 month period that NOIPolls has tracked improvements in household power supply nationwide.

“These are some of the key findings from the Governance Snap Poll conducted in week of March 24, 2014.”

It noted that the survey was conducted by NOIPolls to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the approval rating of the President, the performance of the President on key elements of his transformation agenda, and the state of power supply in the country.

It added, “Further findings across the geo-political zones indicate that the highest proportion of respondents that reported bad/worsened power supply was from the South-West region with 66 per cent of respondents, followed by the South-South region with 59 per cent and the North East region with 58 per cent.

“Highest proportion that reported no difference at all was the North Central, 29 per cent, and those who saw slight improvements were the North-West, 28 per cent, and South-East, 30 per cent.”

When contacted to comment on why power supply had worsened despite the fact that the sector had been privatised, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Geregu Power Plc, Mr. Adeyemi Adenuga, told our correspondent that the situation was beyond privatising the sector.

He said, “Poor power supply is largely due to pipeline vandalism. As far as our gas pipelines are being vandalised by miscreants, the problem may continue.

“We are all in Nigeria and I think this issue is something outside the issue of privatisation. It is not today that it started and it has been felt by the Nigerian Gas Company and some other companies as well.”

Adenuga said until oil theft is addressed, gas pipeline vandalism may persist, as both had things in common.

He added, “The day they get the solution to oil theft, I think there will be solution to gas pipeline vandalism. However, there is no cause for alarm because they are working hard to address this issue.”

The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power, Mr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, admitted to Adenuga’s views and added that the Federal Government was working hard to address the situation.

“This prompted the approval of $1bn by the President to address these issues of vandalism and theft,” he said.