Alleging some breaches of their contracts, Federal Government has threatened to revoke the licences of eight power distribution companies ( DISCOs) in the country.
It said on Wednesday that the DISCOs had breached some provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act in July 2019.
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC), the affected eight power firms are Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ikeja, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola.
The commission said it considered the actions of the aforementioned Discos as “manifest and flagrant breaches” of EPSRA, terms and conditions of their respective distribution licences and the order.
The commission has, therefore, given them 60 days to show cause in writing from the date of receipt of this notice as to why their licences should not be cancelled in accordance with section 74 of EPSRA.
The notice showed that the eight Discos failed to meet the expected remittance threshold for the month of July 2019 billing cycle to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company
NERC, in a notice posted on its website, said it intended to cancel licences issued to the eight Discos pursuant to Section 74 of the EPSR Act.
In the eight-page notice to the Discos, which was signed by one of the NERC’s commissioner, Mr Dafe Akpeneye, the commission stated that the power firms had 60 days to explain why their licences should not be cancelled.
“Take notice that pursuant to section 74 of the EPSR Act and the terms and conditions of electricity distribution licences issued to the distribution licensees by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has reasonable cause to believe that the Discos listed below have breached the provisions of EPSRA, terms and conditions of their respective distribution licences and the 2016 – 2018 Minor Review of Multi Year Tariff Order and Minimum Remittance Order for the Year 2019.”
