The Federal Government said that it was working on a blueprint that would permanently solve the energy crisis facing the nation.

The Minister of State for Power, Mr Nuhu  Wya , said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the 7th Annual Conference of African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR).

He said that the government and stakeholders in the power sector were already meeting on the blueprint which would soon be unveiled to the public.

“The issue of power is a national one, we want all stakeholders that have been identified to come together, so that we can agree on the blueprint that is being put together.

“Once we agree, we will unveil the blueprint to Nigerians and that will be very soon,” he stressed.

Wya said that the nation was facing challenges of imbalance between electricity supply and demand.

He, however, expressed government’s commitment to tackle the challenges “in a manner that will ensure sustainable, adequate and reliable supply of electricity to consumers in the country’’.

Wya said that among the initiatives put in place to redress the shortfalls in power supply, was the deregulation of the sector in line with the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.

The minister, who observed that the power sector required some upgrading and expansion of infrastructure, said that only such development could ensure its place in the league of top 20 economies by 2020.

“This can only be achieved through a combination of robust government policies and appropriate regulatory framework that will result in an aggressive private investments in the sector,” he said.

While calling for more investment in the sector, Wya said that government would continuously create an enabling environment for investors.

The minister added that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) would play a pivotal role in the over-all development of the sector.

He charged the commission to ensure that tariff regime would be cost effective with the provision of all necessary regulatory frameworks like feed in tariff for renewable power through generation and distribution, among others. 

In the same vein, the Executive Secretary of AFRU, Mr Mufor Atanga, said that the body was set up in 2001 to among other issues facilitate the development of effective utility system in a bid to promote development in the continent.

Atanga said that with 23-member countries, AFRU had established and approved various regulatory standards for infrastructure and utilities adoption for its members.

He listed some of the regulations to include Common Guidelines on minimum Quality of Service and Reliability Standards for Electricity, Minimum Quality Standards for Water and Sanitation and Guidelines on improving service delivery in the utility sector.

The conference, which holds from April 19 to April 22 has as its theme: “The Global Economic Crisis: Implications and Challenges for utility Regulation in Africa’’.