Peter Uzoho
The Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Prof. James Momoh, has commended the management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) for being the best performing distribution company in Nigeria.
Momoh, gave the commendation in Lagos, at the premier 2018/2019 graduation ceremony for newly-employed staff of the disco, who went through the ‘Eko Distribution Training Programme (EDTP)’, saying the firm had performed credibly well in discharging its statutory obligations towards effective electricity distribution to customers within its operational area.
He added that the company had attained 100 per cent customer- complaint resolution mark, adding that part of the commission’s rating indices which showed that Eko Disco performed well included Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) loss reduction, revenue collection and metering.
Others, according to him, were high voltage fault clearance index, remittance to market operator and remittance to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET).
Momoh, however, tasked the newly employed graduates to be more committed, dedicated and focused in the course of their duties.
He said achieving incremental, stable and uninterrupted power in a safe and affordable manner was required of distribution companies which need not to be compromised.
“To achieve optimal energy generation, transmission and distribution, there is need for capacity building to design, construct, build and test the new grid that is sustainable,” he said.
Giving more insight into the programme, the Managing Director of Eko Disco, Mr Adeoye Fadeyibi, said: “We are here for an unprecedented premier edition of EKEDC training programme where we have 100 individuals who are graduating today, something that has not been done before in this particular distribution company, where we carefully selected from almost 1,300 applicants.
“We have been able to fairly look at 100 people that we are celebrating today as they are graduating from this programme. We have a mix of 60 per cent of entry level, 30 per cent of mid-level and 10 per cent experts or experienced level.
“The idea was for them to go through detailed rotation, to ensure that they are good in different departments and come out being very confident. And to also have the capacity to turnaround the power sector.”
He explained that the training would bridge the skill gap in both the company and power sector, saying, “I am also excited because as a Nigerian, I see a lot of our colleagues in other Discos probably joining us to do the same or even better”.
Fadeyibi added: “At EKEDC, we don’t pay lip service; there is a lot more to do, not just for EKEDC but for everybody else.
“We are the number one in the country in the key areas we have focused on and succeeded in the last two years include being accessible to customers. We are present online, on social media and direct interactions.
“We ensure that customers’ engagement is key. In ensuring quality of service, we ensure to continue to improve our network. We have zero tolerance for safety issues, you can see the reduced amount of incidence that we have faced”.
According to Fadeyibi, “these are not young graduates, we have the majority that are young graduates but we also have to put a lot of focus on mid-level and the experienced because you can imagine, some of the middle level are taking a chance in their career to move into a new area in most cases”.
He further said: “We have already started to see the impact, even during their six months.
“This is a little over six month programme, intensive like I said, and what we expect is that they will now move into the departments a little focused, understand the clear mission of the company which is to ensure we are the number one customer-focused utility company, not just in Africa but have to compete globally.”
