The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Orientation Agency, NOA, to sensitize consumers of their rights and obligations in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI.
Speaking at a brief signing ceremony, the chairman of NERC, Engr Sanusi Garba said it was important that consumers know their rights and demand for it in the power sector.
Sanusi noted that the Commission was mandated by the power sector law to protect consumers in the industry.
The NERC boss who was represented by the Commissioner, Legal, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye noted that as a sector that is very technical, it is important that consumers understand how it is managed.
According to him, “Our sector requires a lot of sensitisation and we are meeting with NOA because we know that we cannot do the sensitization on our own. We have a very large country with a population of over 200 million people in 774 local government areas.
“Our sector is one that is very specialized and most people do not know how the electrons get to them. All Nigerians are concerned about is that they have those electrons when they want it on demand.
“The essence of this partnership is to create a vehicle whereby we have a platform where Nigerians are educated on issues about the sector, issues of safety, electricity theft and others”.
Also speaking, the Director General of NOA, Garba Abari noted that there is a huge trust gap in the sector which needs to be urgently bridged.
Abari noted that the issue of electricity has dominated national discourse despite the efforts the government has put to address the electricity supply gap.
“There is a huge amount of ignorance in our populace on how things are done especially in technical areas like electricity supply. To make citizens aware and be part of the conversations, they need to be sensitized and mobilized”, he added.
