Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said on Wednesday that challenges in the electricity sector were not technical but man-made, which could be surmounted with stakeholders collaboration.
The minister stated this in Abuja when the management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company visited him.
He, however, urged the company to be more customer friendly and to keep the public abreast of its operations in order to win their confidence.
Fashola added that the purchase of electricity transformers by private individuals should stop henceforth, stressing that it was the responsibility of electricity distribution companies to provide transformers.
Earlier, Ernest Mupwaya, the Managing Director of the company, had said the visit was to solicit support for policies that affects it and the electricity industry generally.
Mupwaya said though the company was poised to offer world class service to electricity customers in the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi, Niger and Nassarawa States, which it services, it was having lots of challenges.
This, he said, included acts of vandalism and defaulting customers, especially Government Ministries Department and Agencies among others.
The managing director pointed out that though the solution for going forward in the electricity sector may be complex, it required the collaboration of stakeholders to achieve success.
Mupwaya, however, said the company was already discussing with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on ways of offsetting debt owed it by MDAs.
Mupwaya called on the Federal Government to strengthen laws against vandalism of cables, transformers and other equipment as deterrent to destruction of power assets in the country.
According to him, the company is putting in place measures to enable its customers purchase electricity from its website to give them more convenience.
He further said that the company had also been meeting with stakeholders and communities with a view to resolving some of their challenges.
Mupwaya added that measures were also being put in place to modernise the company’s customer care service to ensure improved service delivery.