The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) has the mandate to enforce technical compliance and safety measures in the Nigerian power sector. This analysis dissects issues and high points of the agency.
The Managing Director of NEMSA, Engr. Peter Ewesor, in a chat with our reporter, said due rising concerns of electrocution, the agency issued a directive to the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos) to disconnect buildings under the Right of Way (ROW) of power lines across the states. This directive, between June 2017 and December 2018, resulted in the disconnection of 1,205 buildings nationwide.
In a work progress report obtained by Daily Trust, NEMSA said it had strictly insisted that all new electrical networks and installations were inspected, tested and certified fit for use. This also applies to power contractors and technicians who must be issued a certification and licence to practice.
“The DisCos that are not complying with the directives are to be sanctioned,” Ewesor warned.
The report shows the disconnections of buildings under power lines to include 607 cases under Ibadan DisCo, the next highest case is 352 in Port Harcourt DisCo. Ikeja Electric disconnected 100 houses and Benin DisCo disconnected 74 premises.
The other disconnections occurred under Jos DisCo where 99 houses had their supply cut off, Kaduna Electric disconnected 11 buildings and Kano DisCo cut supply to two buildings.
According to the report, four DisCos did not comply with the directive: they are Abuja, Eko, Enugu and Yola.
On meter testing and certification, NEMSA said it had tested 67,321 meters at its three national meter testing stations at Oshodi, Port-Harcourt and Kaduna since October, 2017. Of this figure, it approved and certified 67,292 meters.
Commenting on this, Ewesor who is also the Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation (CEIF), said the testing and certification of meters ensured that meters deployed in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) could enable the consumers get value for what they paid for energy consumption.
Apart from metering, the agency also inspects pole manufacturing firms.
Therefore, Ewesor said the agency had inspected the facilities of 71 concrete pole manufacturers and certified 31 of them, while 40 were not certified but given certain areas to correct and reapply for inspection.
He noted that the inspection was to ensure deployment of only standard electric concrete poles and ultimately ensure safety of lives and property.
The report also highlighted the inspection and certification of new electrical and power supply projects. Of the 2,960 facilities inspected and tested, 1,994 of them were certified safe to use while 695 were not certified until defective areas are fixed.
The agency also monitored 899 existing networks and power systems. From this figure, 313 of them which had issues were resolved while 586 are yet to be resolved and endorsed by NEMSA.
Mr. Ewesor said the DisCos who had the defective networks had been compelled to fix them and present them for approval.