The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency ( NEMSA) has reiterated its commitment to ensure that Nigerians have efficient, safe and reliable power supply services.

In a statement issued by the Public Affairs Department on Sunday in Abuja, NEMSA said it was also effectively discharging its statutory mandate.

The agency said that its management under the leadership of the Managing Director, Aliyu Tahir, was working round the clock to ensure that Nigerians have more stable power supply services.

It said this would be achieved through ensuring that electrical materials and equipment are of high quality.

The agency was established by NEMSA Act, 2015 and charged with the responsibility to carry out the functions of enforcement of technical standards and regulations, technical inspection, testing and certification of all categories of electrical installations, electricity meters and instruments.

According to the statement, NEMSA said it was intensifying it enforcement mandate to ensure an efficient production and delivery of safe, reliable and sustainable electricity power supply and guarantee safety of lives and property in the Nigerian electricity supply industry (NESI) and other allied industries, workplaces and premises.

It said its core mandate would be achieved  through close collaboration with partners including Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Agency (NERC) and Federal  Ministry of Power.

“NEMSA strives to ensure zero incidences of electrical accidents, energy accountability, eliminate sub-standard equipment and materials and rid the system of quack electrical personnel.

”One of the strategies to realise the vision, is through effective service delivery by consistently applying our corporate culture defined by a simple set of corporate values of quality service and safety, honesty and integrity as well as leadership and collaboration.

“For the avoidance of doubt, NEMSA’s 2015 act empowers it to ensure enforcement of standards and regulations.”

The statement said that these standards were developed by SON while the technical regulations were developed by NERC while NEMSA’s mandate is to enforce these standards and regulations.

“We carry out these through a number of activities, one of which is inspection and testing of all categories of electrical equipments and installations.

“When we go out on inspection we make sure that all the requirements are complied with before we can issue a certification for that equipment to be installed for use in the country.

“Through that process,  we enforce the standards and regulations. We also carry out regular monitoring of existing networks,” it said.

The statement explained that the agency’s  activities were divided into five areas.

“We also carry out the certification of electrical installation personnel- that is the personnel responsible for executing electrical installations across the country through the certification.

“We ensure that they are qualified and competent and that they understand the regulations and standards with regards to their duties. We also ensure that they regularly update their knowledge of the industry while we monitor their performance.

“The next area of our mandate is the testing and certification of the materials and equipments used in electrical works. We have our meter testing laboratories across the country where we carry out the testing of meters before they are installed in homes and public places,” it said.

It added that the agency also inspects transformers; assemblers and manufacturers as well as cable manufacturers across the country.

“Through that means, NEMSA ensures that these equipment and materials are tested and certified before they are deployed for use in the country.

“We have successfully updated our quality management system (ISO 9001) certification for year 2022.

“Also, we have successfully started the certification process for ISO 17024 which has to do with the accreditation of our laboratories to ensure that our services are recognised globally and accepted. That is ongoing.

“We have also inaugurated a taskforce on monitoring of the performance of existing networks across the country,” it said.

According to the statement, basically, the mandate of the taskforce is to look at the challenges between transmission and distribution.

“We noticed that there is a wide gap between the two and it is not helping our country,” it said.

(NAN)