Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt
The Federal Government has vowed to revoke licences of electricity installation companies indicted for delivering substandard jobs to members of the public.
The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) decried increasing activities of quacks in the electrical sub-sector saying they were involved in delivering bad electrical work to companies and homes.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NEMSA, Peter Ewesor, spoke at the inauguration of Port Harcourt Zonal Electrical Installation Contractors Certification Panel (ZEICCP), in Port Harcourt on Monday.
The Chief Electrical Inspector of the Federation said the names of the companies, whose licences were to be revoked within Rivers, had been compiled and would be released to the public.
Ewesor insisted that quacks had invaded the sector lamenting that bad wiring had claimed many lives.
He said: “It is either we suspend or we revoke. The suspension means we give you the opportunity to explain and give you a chance to improve. We are going through the files to see those companies that have fallen short and we will revoke their licences.
“Our utmost goal is to play our part in stamping out quack and unqualified electrical installation contractors and bad electrical installations in Nigeria to ensure the delivery of reliable and uninterrupted power supply to Nigerians, ensuring the safety of lives and property and taking Nigerians out of darkness into light.”
Ewesor said henceforth only those certified by NEMSA would be allowed to do installations of electricity in companies and homes.
He said: “As you all know, many lapses have been identified in the power sector and other workplaces in the area of the electrical installation which have resulted to the unstable networks and fire incidences over the years. These lapses are design and construction failures, improper planning and execution of electrical projects.
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“Others are the use of substandard material and equipment, lack of adherence to standard construction and installation and Inadequate safety provisions during construction and subsequent utilisation of the network.”
“These lapses are largely responsible for the networks getting into states of disrepair soon after commissioning them for use, and the ageing equipment and networks, as regularly adduced as the causes of frequent network/system collapse and failures.
“Therefore, the safety, reliability, quality and efficiency of power supply to the populace largely depend on the quality of networks and systems that are built according to specification and standard.”
Ewesor urged the certification panel to ensure that safety formed part of the questions posed to operators without fear or favour.
He said: “Let us not be sympathetic, the mistake of an electrical engineer can kill a whole community. Electricity fire is the most dangerous. Make sure that safety forms part of the questions you ask,” he added.
However, the Chairman of the Certification panel, Quadry Alana, said the panel would ensure that only qualified persons would be cleared to have the NEMSA certificates.
