Energy Briefs
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THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has said it would sanction electricity distribution companies, Discos, that have fallen short of its demand for transparent and accountable management of their networks. It stated that Discos that failed to submit their updated year-end audited financial reports would be sanctioned.
Anthony Akah, acting chairman, NERC, said the commission opted to take punitive actions against the Discos after it discovered that some of them were unwilling to file their audited financial reports, or even filed in formats that were inconsistent with agreed reporting standards. Akah, who spoke during a media briefing in Abuja, added that the agency had instituted various degrees of enforcement actions against some of the Discos that failed to comply with its request that they file their audited year-end financial reports within a specified time-frame.
According to him, the decision of the Discos to ignore its orders to them on this was a clear breach of its regulatory powers, and that it will wield the big stick against them. Akah, who refused to disclose the identity of the Discos that have filed their reports or those that have not filed, however, stated that the situation was not particularly pleasing and that the commission was going ahead to fine them for such breach of its regulatory order.
“I don’t have the situation report here but not all distribution companies have submitted their audited financial statements but I want to let you know that the commission has triggered an enforcement process against these distribution companies. Where we are not fully satisfied, we will impose the necessary sanctions as allowed by the law because not all the Disco have submitted. Some submitted partially, some submitted not certified reports and we have in line with our processes written to them notice of enforcement and given them time to reply and thereafter take adequate necessary action.”
— Aug 8, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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