The Senate has called on the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to immediately suspend the World Bank funded NMMP Phase 2 in order to undertake a comprehensive review of the procurement criteria to prioritize local manufacturing and assembling.
The Senate also mandated TCN and NERC to look towards the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention funds or engage the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM).
This followed a motion sponsored by Sen Victor Umeh, Anambra Central on the urgent need to protect local meter manufacturers in the ongoing national mass metering programme of the federal government.
According to the Senate, things should be done inline with the local content and backward integration policy that catalyzes local capacity building, employment generation and economic growth for Nigeria.
The Senate, accordingly, “urged the executive to immediately suspend the TCN Tender for World Bank funded NMMP Phase 2 in order to undertake comprehensive Review of the Procurement Criteria to prioritize local Manufacturing and Assembling in line with Local Content and Backward Integration Policy that catalyzes local capacity building, employment generation and economic growth for Nigeria and “also urge the Transmission Company of Nigeria and other stakeholders to negotiate and engage the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) for alternative Loan if World Bank loan conditions do not favour local economic growth at this critical time of massive unemployment and devaluation of Naira.
“Also, the Senate resolved that local manufacturers should be given intervention through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention fund.”
Umeh had said that the Duty of Industry Procurement Regulators in every developing Economy, first and foremost, is to protect its Local Manufacturers and would only try to augment importation of goods and services where there is a clear-cut gap between local production and consumption.
