NERC, FCCPC Strike Deal to Enhance Efficient Service Delivery to Electricity Consumers

ABUJA

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to protect electricity consumers in the country.

The chairman of the NERC, Sanusi Garba, speaking at the event in Abuja, stated that the agreement was a formalisation of processes to ensure that Nigerians get value for money in the power sector.

He noted that regulating the power sector and ensuring consumer protection was an uphill tack because of the accumulated inherited legacy problems, stressing that there was a challenge of making sure that consumers actually get quality service.

Garba listed the most common complaints in the electricity sector to include issues of meter, estimated billing and lack of service but assured that with the signing of the MoU, concrete steps would be taken towards resolving them.

“All these can be tied to the legacy issues that the industry has been battling with and also what the reform agenda was intended to address. So the work is not done yet.

“And I think the MOU we are signing today is a very important step, whereby two government agencies charged with regulating different aspects of the same Nigerian nation are coming together to collaborate in terms of synergy, pulling our resources together,” he stated.

He added that the signing of the MoU was to consolidate the area of cooperation between the two agencies in order to avoid the two regulators working against each other.

“Arising from infrastructure deficit and also the challenge of the metering gap, we have a challenge of making sure that consumers actually get the service.

“So, we are coming together to make sure we find a solution. I welcome you and look forward to a productive engagement as we work over the years to ensure that consumer protection is achieved,” he noted.

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, MrBabatunde Irukera, said the mutual understanding and collaboration between NERC and FCCPC in recent times had resulted in a dramatic increase in the promptness of response among players in the Nigerian electricity market.

Speaking, NERC’s vice chairman and commissioner,MarketCompetition and Rates, Musiliu Oseni, assured that Nigerians will soon experience improvements in service delivery.

“Let me disclose here that in the next few weeks, the commission will be launching a customer reporting app; already it is available on apple stores for those using apple technology, and Google playstore for those using Android,” he stated.