Economy
THE Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has engaged the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and states electricity regulators to encourage consumer protection and transparency in electricity industry operations.
Mr Tunji Bello, the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, said the engagement was to create opportunities for close cooperation between institutions.
According to him, this is as more s
tate Electricity Regulatory Commissions assumed responsibility for regulating intra-state electricity markets under the Electricity Act, 2023.
Bello said the cooperation would ensure renewed commitment to partnership to build a more accountable, responsive and consumer-centred electricity sector for the benefit of all Nigerians.
He noted that strong regulation was not built on institutional rivalry but on cooperation, mutual respect and a shared commitment to public interest.
He said that when market participants complied promptly with regulatory obligations, resolved complaints fairly and operated transparently, they help build stronger, more competitive and more sustainable electricity markets.
According to him, success should not be judged by how firmly we protect our individual jurisdictions, but by how effectively we work together to serve electricity consumers.
”Wherever an electricity consumer lives in Nigeria, they should have the same confidence that they will be treated fairly, that complaints will be resolved effectively, and that lawful regulatory decisions will be respected.
”Building trusted electricity markets is not the responsibility of regulators alone. Electricity Distribution Companies and every other participant in the electricity value chain also have important roles to play.
”Consumers should use the established complaints resolution mechanisms, engage regulatory institutions in good faith, and exercise their rights responsibly while fulfilling their own obligations.
”As we continue to implement the Electricity Act, 2023, my hope is that cooperation becomes our default approach, not something we turn to only when other options have failed.
”We should strengthen institutional relationships that will outlast individual office holders and build regulatory frameworks that will continue to serve Nigeria for many years to come,” Bello said.
Mr Anthony Essien, the Head, Consumer Protection Department of NERC, said the meeting was necessary to foster collaboration.
Essien said it was a coordinated effort toward serving the different electricity markets, especially considering customer protection, ensuring that all markets, not just the federal market, but all decentralised markets provided protection for customers within their regions.
”So, we have an evolving electricity market in Nigeria, so the state’s markets have all been created with their various mandates, right, and it is believed that having state operations will provide better and closer service to customers within their regions,” Essien said.
Chijioke Okonkwo, the Chief Executive Officer of the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission, said the collaborative arrangement would position stakeholders to share ideas and take advantage of lessons from the federal level to implement them in states.
Okonkwo said the engagement would enable regulators to resolve issues, challenges and gaps when they arose.
He said that decentralising and setting up sub-national markets in the electricity industry was the first of its kind, not only in Nigeria but in Africa.
”We want to get it right because the ultimate beneficiaries are the consumers.
”We feel that whenever we have gaps or challenges, we can come together to resolve it for the benefit of all sectors, because we are all new in this sector and are trying to develop something that has never been done anywhere else in the world,” he said.
Dr Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, the Executive Commissioner, Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERC), said new power framework had also enabled states to step up in leadership space and bring reforms closer to the people.
Ewelukwa said the forum here particularly was about consumer protection, the whole issues around consumer experience with electricity.
”One of the benefits of having state regulators is that regulation is now at the grassroots.
”When you have an issue with your distribution company in some village in Lagos, or in some village in Anambra, or in some village in Ondo, Abuja seems so far.
”When you have a regulator that is within your state, it becomes much closer, more personal, and more relatable experience for the consumers.
”Even for investors as well, having state regulators create a closer interface between the regulator and the approving authorities at the state level,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that electricity regulators from different states were present at the meeting. (NAN)
F.O
Tags: FCCPC Tunji Bello