- Energy Commission on Nigeria should leverage available resources to reposition Nigeria as the hub for renewable energy.
- The committee resolved to support ECN in birthing reliable and sustainable results in line with their goals.
The Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation Chairman, Beni Lar, has urged the Energy Commission on Nigeria to leverage available resources to reposition Nigeria as the hub for renewable energy. Lar made this call during His oversight visit to ECN on Friday to ascertain the compliance and implementation level of the agency. While noting that ECN is the sole government body charged with driving the UN climate change Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals in energy sources and usage, Lar affirmed his committee’s resolve to support ECN in birthing reliable and sustainable results in line with their goals.
He added that “with over four decades of operational existence, this energy think-tank has a strategic role of preparing and guiding the nation into the post-crude oil dominance era that now steers us in the face. Moreover, several quantum leaps in the advancement of science and technology are leaning towards renewable and more climate-friendly energy sources. This should alarm leaders in the Nigerian project, particularly the ECN, as fossil fuel’s future looks bleak.”
In his presentation, the Director General Energy Commission of Nigeria, Professor Jidare Bala, said the appropriation for 2022 was 12.5 billion with 79.55% release. He added that the agency’s primary revenue sources were tender fees, VAT, stamp duty, freedom of information, withholding tax and grants. He said, “I would like to recall some of our challenges. First, I have told you about our heavy debt of about 4.7 billion naira owed contractors for constituency projects executed from 2009 to 2012, but since 2013, we have not incurred any debt. Secondly is the inadequate physical infrastructure at the headquarters, you can see this building is small, and we have about 731 staff. “If we have our way, we have already had our design where our car park is, we want to have a twelve-storey building to be called Nigeria Energy House.
Prof. Bala clarified that there had not been any intervention funds from the government since 2009 and noted that the commission is indebted to the tune of 4.7 billion. He traced the debts to constituency projects which he said the commission had written to the Ministry of Finance that the Debt Management office take over the debt. The committee requested that ECN Agencies provide details of documents on budget performance, sources of revenue, indebtedness, and internally generated revenue. This will help the committee effectively aid resolve some of the issues.