Bailout or debt owed?
The electricity generating companies (GenCos) call it legitimately owed debt — and the Federal Government in principle agrees with them. Even then, it doubts the exact quantum of the debt.
- By Our Reporters
The electricity generating companies (GenCos) call it legitimately owed debt -- and the Federal Government in principle agrees with them. Even then, it doubts the exact quantum of the debt. For that, an audit is on-going.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) counters it’s a “bailout”. But in a long release that bristled with thunder on how “corruptly” the GenCos acquired hitherto public power assets, it failed to provide -- beyond its emotive ire -- new facts on how a claimed debt has turned a bailout.
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This controversy only muddies the waters. It doesn’t provide a solution to the crisis. It only confounds the public the more. Nothing, after all, fires popular adrenalin more than perceived graft in the public space!Still, unless the NLC knows something the rest of us don’t know about the claimed debt -- and are ready to share such facts -- they should find more fact-laced methods to tackling the power mess.
Yes, NLC members are backbones of these GenCos. So, they are well placed to offer us fresh perspectives on the matter. But that they have failed to do in NLC’s latest release. That’s not good enough.
But back to the real issue: a N6 trillion debt, claimed by GenCos; part of the bill legacy debts, over many years. That came to the fore again with the virtual collapse of nationwide electricity supply, with most distribution companies (DisCos) getting zero mw, for days.
Producers simply turned off gas supply, because of mounting debts. The US/Israel bombing of Iran and the global energy meltdown did not help matters.
The Federal Government acknowledged the debt challenge. But after auditing -- which is still ongoing -- the figures are trending down from the claimed N6trillion to between N2.8 trillion and N3 trillion. Now, paying debts owed is legitimate.
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But that justness does not cover flabby bills. That’s why the Federal Government must insist on a rigorous audit process; and must not pay a kobo more than what figure the audit throws up.
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In pursuit of this, the Federal Government has already posted a bond of N501 billion to offset part of the debt -- an admirable good faith, pending the outcome of the final audit figures. The earlier the GenCos get paid for legitimate debts, the earlier the resolution of the electricity crisis.
That was the stage when the NLC batted in, claiming the N6 trillion debt was a “bailout”. That would appear a conceptual slant: willful, disingenuous and unfortunate. If Organised Labour is really concerned about fixing the power puzzle, it can’t indulge in emotive sophistry.
Dubbing a “debt” as “bailout” is condemnable sophistry. It helps the cause of no one -- not even of the NLC itself, if its bluster is just to win an argument, leveraging emotions.
Still, there is a Labour suggestion that is not unreasonable: creating a Federal Ministry of Energy, by merging the Petroleum and Power ministries.
That, other things being equal, makes sense: if only to better coordinate regular gas supplies to power the thermal plants -- the turbines of most GenCos. When gas fails, electricity supply crumbles.
