By Ovat Abeng
The Managing Director of Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERC), Prof Frank Nwoye Okafor has assured the residents of Anambra State that they would start enjoying regular power supply as soon as the draft electricity regulations are ready.
Prof Okafor made the assurance in Onitsha, Anambra State on Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, during their two days programme tagged:the Public Consultation on the Draft Electricity Regulations that will shape the Anambra State Electricity Market, which was organized for Onitsha residents and business owners.
The topics of the two days programme are Public Consultation On Customer Protection Regulation and Public Consultation On Licencing and Investment Regulations with Barr Chijioke Obi; Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement and Engr Nosike Emmanuel; Executive Commissioner, Markets as the lecturers. And the programme ends today being 1st April,2026 at Classic Hall,CJ Paterson Auditorium, All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha.
According to Okafor, the essence of organizing a programme of such nature is to get opinions of electricity consumers as regards to how they are being treated by the power distribution companies in the state, adding that the comments of electricity consumers in Onitsha, Awka, Nnewi and Ekwulobia will assist them to prepare the draft of electricity regulations in Anambra State. He equally stated that from the comments and reactions of people, his team will get to know the problems of the Anambra residents as to unavailability of electricity and find a way to offer a final solution to epileptic power supply in the state.
He frowned at the low turnout of Onitsha residents and business owners at the forum.
“I wish they were here to give more details. Nobody really has power. Everybody is complaining,no power,no power. But when you give your own details,then we know what your problem is,” Prof Okafor stated.
The ASERC boss admitted that the power availability is very small but they intend to increase it, stating that they want to look at network so that the power that is available will come seamlessly to their houses or businesses.
He further stated that there are so much losses in the power sector, which is about 40%, and they need to correct the losses so that investors will be assured that their returns on investments will come to them.
The Vice-chairman of the commission, Engr Geoffrey Nwokoye disclosed that a lot of industries in Onitsha have collapsed due to lack of power.
He used the occasion to call on the wealthy people in Anambra State to come and invest in the power sector in the state, noting that one of the best business to do is power business, because one does not need to advertise it rather people will come for it.
The Managing Director of FirstPower Distribution Company, Engr Okechukwu Okafor stated that the biggest challenges of his organization is unavailability of power, because power is what they sell to their customers.
“So you don’t have power,you don’t have products to sell. We are the only one selling, so everybody is angry. So it is a very big challenge”.
According to him, beyond that,they also have the issue of power theft, which is also another big challenge that is trying to cripple the sector. But he assured the general public that they could deal with it when they have visibility of power, and with that, they could track and deal decisively with those issues.
He noted that they do source power from the National Grid but Anambra State is operating like a mixed grid.
“There are many people that are generating power independently, and they are not coordinated”.
He therefore urged the ASERC as a regulatory agency in the state to bring all the distribution companies together so that all of them will be under regulation, and FirstPower will be like a grand coordinator of all the energy that is being deployed to the system.
Engr Okafor disclosed that some of their feeders lose more than 50% of the energy deployed to power theft on daily basis, and it is quite enormous and also a very big challenge to them.
“But with the regulators,we believe that the laws will be strengthened and people should understand that energy theft is a crime against society. If you are stealing energy,you are destroying the economy”, Engr Okafor noted.
On the issue of estimated billing and pre-paid metering, he stated that they are not comfortable with estimated billing, though pre-paid metering is very expensive, adding that they spent N1.72billion just to get 12,000 meters.
According to him,an unimaginable billions of naira is required in Anambra State to close 200,000 metering gap, and once they close the metering gap, the next thing is for them to use technology and track down people that are stealing the energy. And have visibility over the the meters here and there.
He condemned the activities of some dishonest individuals, who claim to be agents of NEPA, EEDC or FirstPower as an avenue to defraud hapless individuals or communities of their hard-earned money. He disclosed that owing to the activities of such unscrupulous individuals, they have zero tolerance to people loitering around their premises, especially when they don’t have any business with them.
“You know because this sector has moved from ECN to NEPA to PHCN to EEDC, so many people have left the sector,and start using the skills they gathered to sabotage the sector. So it is a challenge but there is always ways out of it. Technology answers most of the questions,” Engr Okafor concluded.
Representative of Onitsha Business Roundtable expressed gratitude to the management team of ASERC for bringing such enlightenment and interactive programme to Onitsha, stating that similar programmes are always done in Awka and leave Onitsha people to get their information from beer parlours. He pleaded with the ASERC people to always consult them living in Onitsha before fixing such programmes in subsequent times, noting that Onitsha businessmen and women do not joke with their businesses on Tuesdays.
Other management team of ASERC present at the forum were Mr Stephen Nwike Nweke, Secretary of the commission, Engr. Maduabuchukwu Okoye; Chairman, Institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria, South East Region, Representatives of Onitsha Chambers of Commerce and journalists.
