The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over the weekend imposed N37,520,000 fines on the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) over its failure to submit audited financial report since 2013 when the new management came on board.
The commission in Directive 158 signed by the acting chairman, Dr. Anthony Akah, mni, and general manager, Legal Licensing and Enforcement, Mrs Olufunke Dinneh, said PHED had consistently flouted its licensing conditions which required it to submit yearly audited financial report and that subsequent reminders from the commission to obey the licensing conditions went unheeded.
NERC in the directive said PHED flouted at least four of its licensing conditions for failing to submit two years financial reports. Each of the four grounds of infringement attracts N10, 000 fine per day beginning from April 1, 2014 when the offences were first brought to the utility firm’s attention.
A statement by NERC spokesman, Dr. Usman Abba Arabi, recalled that the Disco and another Disco were in June 2016 sanctioned over their failure to comply with the NERC Forum directive on customer complaints.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Akah said, “the commission expects operators in the power sector to play by the rules” and that the commission would continue to provide enabling environment for them as much as it would ensure that the rights of electricity customers were not violated.
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