Management of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) and the Ondo State government have sealed a collaboration deal in the areas of Technical Standardisation, inspection, and Testing of all electrical equipment and materials within the state to ensure safe power delivery.
This was part of the resolutions reached at a virtual meeting held on Monday between officials of the federal government agency and the Ondo State government, a statement issued Friday by the head, Communications & Protocol Unit of NEMSA, Ama Umoren, has said.
According to the statement, the Virtual meeting which was held at the instance of the NEMSA management was chaired by Engr Aliyu Tukur Tahir, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of NEMSA and Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation (CEIF) with the Ondo side led by the Special Adviser (SA) to the state governor on Energy, Olatunji Light.
Welcoming the Ondo State representatives to the meeting, Engr. Aliyu Tahir said it was a good development aimed at fostering mutual cooperation between the agency and the state government, adding that the purpose was to ensure standardisation, safety of lives and property in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.
In his opening remark, leader of the Ondo State government team, Barr, Olatunji Light, conveyed the commendation of the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, to NEMSA management for inviting them to the meeting, stressing that it would lead to a strong collaborative effort that would ensure safety of lives and property in the state.
He said the state government was already collaborating with other federal government agencies in the same regard.
According to him, the state government is embarking on a number of projects that would need collaboration with NEMSA.
He expressed willingness of the Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Bureau, OSERB, to work with NEMSA harmoniously to ensure it carried out the aforementioned functions successfully.
He emphasised the need for an MOU to guide collaboration, which can serve as the template for other state governments to emulate.
It was concluded that a team would be set up with membership drawn from NEMSA and the Ondo State government to come up with suggestions on the possible areas of collaboration.
NEMSA was established by the NEMSA Act of 2015, now Electricity Act 2023, with the mandate of carrying out Technical Inspection, enforcing Technical Standards and Regulations, Testing and Certification of all categories of electrical installations, including electricity meters among others to ensure an efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable and sustainable power supply while guaranteeing safety of lives and property in the NESI.