The Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Benjamin Dikki on Wednesday lauded Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) over ongoing post- privatisation transformation process in the areas of infrastructure upgrade, enhanced customer service platforms and human capital development in the company.Dikki gave the commendation during the post-privatisation monitoring exercise visit to Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company in Lagos.
The Director General noted that eight months after official handover of the power sector to the private operators, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company has shown tremendous improvement in customer service delivery, capacity building and network upgrade.
According to him, “I am indeed impressed with the transformation witnessed at the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company after eight months of handing over to private sector. It is also a symbol of change that indicates the operational excellence that is a characteristic feature of private sector driven enterprises.
The BPE boss commended Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company for its commitment to quality service delivery, stressing that the company’s effective customer and community relations initiatives will add value to the unfolding reforms in the power sector.
`We are delighted that all abandoned projects have been brought into operational use because those facilities will go a long way in boosting power supply. Today, we are happy to see the difference between government and private operations in the power sector,” he added.
Dikki said that the post privatisation monitoring exercise was designed to identify areas where the government can be of assistance to the DISCOs and reaffirmed government support on sundry post-privatisation activities that will impact the sector positively.
“Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company has shown good initiatives towards sustaining effective customer service delivery and prompt response to complaints. This is a welcome departure from the past. The establishment of Customer Care and Call centre is a clear indication of the level of service that Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company has for its customers.”
He said that the government remained committed to ensuring that the private sector strives in the country to become the engine room of the economy in Nigeria. He urged Nigerians to own the process by participating actively in activities that will stamp out molestation of electricity workers, vandalism and energy theft.
`Government has made tremendous achievement in effective and adequate privatisation of the power sector which has never happened in the history of the country. We are here today and we are very happy with what we are seeing at Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company. It is a clear example of the importance of the privatisation process,” he stated.
Dikki urged the management of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company to embark on sensitisation programme that will educate customers on power sector value chain, especially the role of the distribution process. He said that this will go a long way in educating customers on the role of Discos and engender the support of customers and host communities where Discos have their equipment and installations
Commending BPE for its support, Mr Abiodun Ajifowobaje, the Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company said the inadequate energy received from the grid has been a major challenge to the company.
Ajifowobaje said that over N1 billion had been deployed to drive various projects within the company, adding that the company only got about 345 mega watts as against 1,257 mega watts maximal demand.
“We have installed and completed all rehabilitated transformers and pending projects within the company and we are also planning to engage other source of power supply through embedded generation to ensure we serve our customers better,”he said.
He added that Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company was working on introducing a smart metering and billing plans that will enhance transparency in billing and check energy thefts.
