Politically speaking, there are several ruling documents in the power sector that are necessary to guide the several complex operations in the sector for accident-free and seamless results. It should be stated that some of these ruling documents existed before the privatization of the sector while others are a creation of the privatization exercise and they include the Grid Code, Market Rules, Operational Procedure, as well as Safety Rule series, Standard Procedure Code documents amongst others that direct the day to day activities in the power sector. There are other documents that guide contractual obligations such as the Power Purchase Agreements, Gas Sales Agreements etc.

Although these ruling documents are in use, it is necessary to call on the honorable Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to invoke the use of the instrumentality of ministerial directives to increase the use of these documents for the overall performance improvement in the sector.

Recall that a ministerial directive is similar to an executive order, which is available for use by the President and Governors to fast-track the implementation of government policies without recourse to the legislature so as to achieve faster results.

A cursory look at the power sector suggests that there is need for the honorable Minister to use his powers through the use of ministerial directives to align actions and quickly accomplish desired results.

For instance, it is necessary for the honorable Minister to mandate Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Independent System Operator (ISO) to dispatch only generators that are on frequency response as stipulated in the Grid Code. This is to ensure the security of the national grid because if connected generators are on frequency response, the occurrences of system collapses will be greatly curtailed.

The honorable Minister should direct DISCOs to comply with the section of the Market Rule that deals with the issue of customer metering for the accurate billing of customers so as to eliminate crazy and estimated billing of customers. Achieving 100% customer metering will enhance customer satisfaction and eliminate avoidable disputations and conflicts.

With the recent sad incidents at 330/132/33kV Birnin-Kebbi and 132/33kV Maryland substations, there is need for the honorable Minister to use the instrumentality of ministerial directive to impress it on generation, transmission and distribution the need for the training and re-training of their workforce to achieve accident-free operations.

Given the huge energy gap in the country and the urgency to improve service delivery in the power sector, it is germane for the honorable Minister to use the instrumentality of ministerial directives to facilitate performance and improve power supply in Nigeria for the overall benefit of the nation’s economy.