Lagos – An indigenous meter manufacturer, Mr
Atilade Bolarinwa, on Monday listed finance, technical partner influence and
corruption as major reasons why Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs)
were not patronising made-in-Nigeria meters. Bolarinwa, who is the
Vice-Chairman of Unistar Hi-teck System Ltd., an indigenous meter manufacturing
company, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) in Lagos. He explained that indigenous meter manufacturers did not give
credit facilities to DISCOs as a result of the hostile Nigerian business
environment.
The manufacturer, however, said that
the DISCOs get credit facilities from foreign countries, while local
manufacturers refused to grant them such facility. “Secondly, most of the
distribution companies have technical partners which maybe Korean or Indian,
and who use their influence to get meters for them. “So, when we talk about
patriotism, it is expected that Nigerians should be patriotic but in the face
of corruption and inducement, most Nigerians will throw away anything about
patriotism.
“The technical partners want the meters of
their countries to be in Nigerian markets and will bend over backwards to
ensure this,’’ Bolarinwa alleged. He said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission (NERC) had given the sector two means of financing of meters for
installation — the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI)
and DISCOs finance. “As at the last count, CAPMI finance has done 62 per cent
of adding to metering while DISCO finance hit 38 per cent. “It is on record
that CAPMI finance in which consumers pay in advance for meters is what is
really financing metering and not DISCO financing. “Outside these two areas, I
don’t know if there is any other ulterior motive. If you remove these two, they
have no reason not to patronise us,’’ the local manufacturer said. The
vice-chairman also lamented corruption in Nigeria and urged the Federal
Government to sanitise all sectors of the economy.
“Nigerians are so corrupt and everybody knows.
Our judiciary system is not helping matters. “If somebody misbehaves, he can
subvert the law. Either the judge or lawyer will help him to postpone or
frustrate judgment. “In that situation, there is a limit to what you can do,’’
Bolarinwa said. He regretted that some consumers preferred not to use prepaid
meters because they were used to settling the distribution company’s staff
every month when their bills were brought. “The way this is affecting us is
that some consumers don’t want the prepaid meter, even when they have paid for
it, they may not want it installed. “Then if you look at it from the other
side, the DISCOs too prefer not to install because of what they derive in
estimated billing. “They know that once they issue the prepaid meter, there
will be no room for estimated billing again. “So, it is a question of how well
we can be patriotic, how well we can fight corruption and how well we can
enforce the installation,’’ Bolarinwa said. The vice-chairman argued that if
the NERC sets a metering target for the DISCOs, this could help to improve
metering. “Set a target for DISCOs on metering of consumers and be strict with
it. “You will be shocked that out of 40 million houses in Nigeria, those that
have been metered are not up to 4 million. “In the customer base of some
DISCOs, we do not have up to seven million houses and out of it not up to one
million have been metered. “If a set target is given to the DISCOs, they will
improve on metering of houses,’’ he said.Vanguard
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