In a statement by his Special Adviser on Communications, Hakeem Bello on Friday, March 29, 2019, the Minister said the decision is sequel to an approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to include the Villa in the Eligible Customer Policy of the Federal Government.
He said the approval is aimed at achieving improvement in the electricity supply and distribution in the country.
According to him, the approval was made at the FEC meeting on in response to a memorandum submitted by the Minister seeking approval to include the presidential villa in the distribution expansion programme earlier approved by the council.
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The eligible customer regulation, which was issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in mid-2017, permits electricity customers to buy power directly from the Electricity Generation Companies (GenCos), other than Distribution Companies (DisCos), in line with the provisions of section 27 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.
The programme seeks to enable unutilised 2000 megawatts from the GenCos to be distributed to targeted metered customers.
“The Ministry had earlier obtained approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) following its letter to the Bureau intimating it of the Council’s approval of the Distribution Expansion Programme with the intention of the Ministry to procure civil works that would facilitate uninterrupted power supply to the Aso Rock Villa and curb the present erratic supply of power in spite of the availability of power by the Generation Companies (GenCos),” the statement said.
“The project to be executed by Messrs Dextron Engineering Limited, has a completion period of six months under the Distribution Expansion Programme. An arrangement has also been put in place such that a GenCo, North-South Power Company Limited, will procure the dedicated supply to the Villa from the National Grid while the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has indicated interest to ensure success of the project."
Fashola recently got tongues wagging when he announced that some states in Nigeria were enjoying uninterrupted power supply -- a statement most Nigerians find hard to believe.