Dafe Akpeneye, the commissioner for legal licensing and compliance at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), advocated the introduction of ‘Regulatory Economics’ as a course in Nigerian universities on Thursday.

Mr Akpeneye said this would help build local power sector capacity. He said this during the 14th PwC Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable Conference with the theme ‘The Electricity Act 2023, Powering Nigeria in Lagos’.

The commissioner said laws that could handle a power sector transaction, end-to-end, with skill and capacity building were few.

“So, we need to build local capacity along the lines of everything we do in the sector. No university in Nigeria teaches regulatory economics. What we do in the sector is regulatory economics. So, we need to start building our local capacity towards doing these things locally,” he said.

Mr Akpeneye also noted that Nigeria had no dedicated funding institution mainly for developing the power sector. He cited India as a case study of a dedicated power bank established and responsible for funding and issues regarding the power sector in that country.

“So, our sector, being a critical sector to the country, needs to have a dedicated institution to fund the needs of the sector, both short- and long-term goals. We also need to create an environment where investment can come in and mature,” the NERC commissioner said.

Mr Akpeneye said it was important to have an all-encompassing law ensuring coordination and robust relationships among stakeholders.

The commissioner for energy and mineral resources in Ondo, Razaq Obe, said that workable modules should be designed for easy adoption by the states.

“We can not just have all manner of models everywhere; it must be created in such a way that if it works, it will work in Ondo, Kaduna and other states. Perhaps, if for some specific reasons, there will be any change to it, it will be tailored across all the states because you can not grow an economy if your power consumption is low,” said Mr Obe.

(NAN)