Lagos – An energy expert, Mr Adekunle Makinde, on Wednesday said that most Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) were not ready for the challenges they were currently experiencing in the sector.

Makinde, who is a former Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, made the assertion in an interview in Lagos.

He said that most of them did not know that the rosy pictures they saw outside were not exactly what were happening inside the system.

The expert said that they were not given the details of what was going on there, adding that coming on board they were faced with many challenges.

“Most of the companies that bought the DISCOs were different companies merged in a hurry just for the purpose of winning the purchase bid.

“They were not properly branded in the business of power distribution.

“Secondly, most of them were not really aware of the exact situation in the DISCOs before buying the entities.

“Some engineers within the power sector helped them to package the whole thing,’’ he said while explaining that the sector’s challenges were enormous.

“They were not really given the opportunity to see what they wanted to buy.

“Also, on the government’s part, many promises were made to allow the DISCOs to operate with free hand and to also increase the tariff when they come on board.

“Mind you, all these investors secured loans from banks to purchase the DISCOs but unfortunately they are surprised when they came on board,’’ he said.

He said that all these had constrained their operations.

“When there is a fault or maybe underground cables damage or a transformer gets damaged, they will tell consumers to provide money for repair because they lack money to effect repairs.

“At times, they will tell you that there is not money and this has resulted in some communities banning electricity company staffs from coming to their areas.

“This is because they do not enjoy power supply. They will put some sort of banner with inscriptions such as “we don’t want electricity company staff in this area,’’ he said.

He urged the Federal Government to revisit the power sector privatisation with the aim of ensuring that experts were given opportunity to work.

“I supported privatisation of the power sector because government has no business in the generation and distribution of power.

“But this is not the way it is done in other countries of the world,’’ he said.