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Discos revenue targets are based on actual consumption – ANED

Published

5 years ago

December 31, 2021

The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has said, contrary to ‘misinformation’ concerning the nature and purpose of revenue targets Distribution Companies (Discos) give their staff, such targets are usually set based on what customers have consumed.

“One of the allegations that is gaining grounds of late is that Disco marketers are given revenue targets and it is in their quests to meet these targets that they supposedly ‘extort’ customers and give them bills that do not reflect their electricity consumption,” Barr. Sunday Oduntan ANED’s Executive Director for Research and Advocacy told newsmen.

“Nothing can be further from the truth. What is being discussed here are what should be rightly termed ‘receivables’. We are talking about money owed to the Disco for a service already rendered. This is money earned by the Disco based on the energy consumed. If this is what is being wrongly and ignorantly defined as cooked-up figures, then it is our responsibility to help save the public from those spreading this misinformation.

“Any organization that is performance-driven ties staff activities and its operations as a whole to targets. It is part of the model of any good organization. Discos set commercial, operations, technical and even customer service targets for their staff. The commercial targets in our case are specific and based on what has been consumed.

“Setting targets does not mean conjuring figures to meet those targets. We go out to collect what is owed. That is legitimate,” he said

“Distribution transformers are metered, so we always know the value of electricity that passed through the Distribution Transformer to the customers in an area. It is empirical. You cannot by any stretch equate that with a random target set with no data justifying the expectations. Now, when we match the amount collected from the users of electricity connected to a transformer against how much has been paid, it is always easy to know where there is a gap. We are simply saying people should pay us what they owe and our people are given the data on what is being owed and by whom.

“Discos do not arbitrarily make up billing figures. Where the customer or group of customers do not have pre-paid metres, there is an approved methodology for the computation of estimated bills, designed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which the Discos follow. It ensures that the amount of energy consumed through a particular distribution transformer is paid for by those who utilise the said transformer,” he said.

“Estimated billing is scientific and Nigeria is not the only country that practises. In addition, customers are also allowed to contest their billing. We don’t just bill people to get money.

“The NERC’s Methodology for Estimated Billing Regulations 2012 (Estimated Billing Methodology Regulation) was specifically introduced in 2012 to deter ensure energy consumed is paid for and also to ensure Distribution Companies (DisCos) do not issue to electricity customers, arbitrary electricity bills which did not reflect their actual power consumption. This has been further regulated through the capping of estimated billing order 2020,” he added.

Oduntan further addressed the complaints by customers of bribe seeking by Disco staff in the course of providing services for customers.

“As for the claims of bribe seeking and giving, our policies remain the same as with any legal entity doing business in Nigeria. We do not condone corruption and request any customer who requests for a legitimate service and is asked to pay a bribe to promptly report such incident as well as the staff in question through our an the regulator’s complaint channels. Also, sometimes, it is those who induce them that are the same people who come and complain about them. We need Nigerians to help us fish out the bad eggs in our system. If you see something, say something.

“Like every other business, the possibility of the presence of bad eggs who will want to exploit hapless customers will always be there. The information you provide to us will help in a very significant measure to curb the activities of such elements,” he concluded.

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Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

4 days ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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