The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has lauded the rise in the electricity generation capacity to 6,619 megawatts noting that the next step for his administration is to tackle the distribution problems.

The minister who spoke at the Guadian Business Summit in Lagos yesterday said, “Therefore, beyond rhetoric, our next step is to solve the distribution problem. This involves the sustained implementation of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).”

He said the total hydropower capacity available with the rains from Jebba, Kainji and Shiroro hydro power plants as at September 4, 2017 was about 1,000mw.

“So it is the gas thermal plants, arising from peace efforts and pipeline repairs that made up the difference that made the total available power of 6,619mw that was produced,” he noted.

Fashola who cited the announcement on the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that marked the exit of Nigeria from recession said electricity production as well as financial services and construction also grew strongly.

“Other sectors did very well in the second quarter 2017 include electricity and gas and financial institutions, with electricity and gas growing by 35.5 per cent,” he said.

To tackle inefficiencies across the 11 privatised distribution firms, Fashola said rules and will be strengthened to ensure confidence and predictability in the sector through the PSRP.

“Another decision is to strengthen the governance of DisCos by reconstituting our board representation in all the DisCos, a process that is also underway.

Next is the implementation of eligible customers, which is awaiting the finalization of regulations by NERC based on consultations with stakeholders,” Fashola explained.

He said the successful implementation of this policy will help heavy power consumers, who are denied power because of defective distribution, to make the investment by building the distribution equipment under arrangements and agreements with the DisCos.