The Senate has introduced a bill seeking to ban the importation, sale and use of generating sets in Nigeria.
The proposed legislation, titled: “Generating Set (Prohibition/Ban) Bill, 2020”, was read for the first time on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Muhammad Enagi Bima (Niger South), who explained that the ban was to facilitate the development of the power sector as well as curb the menace of environmental pollution which poses potential health hazards to the country.
A copy of the proposed legislation showed that “any person who imports generating sets; or knowingly sells generating sets shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than ten years.”
The ban, however, excluded the use of generating sets for essential services.
The bill listed the essential services to include: medical purposes (hospitals and nursing homes and healthcare facilities), airports, railway stations/services.
Other are: elevators (lifts), escalators, research institutions and such facilities that require 24-hour electric power supply. The piece of the legislation states that approval for exclusion shall be obtained from the minister in charge of power who shall brief the Federal Executive Council quarterly on approvals granted.
It states further that: “All persons are hereby directed to stop the use of electricity generating sets which run on diesel/petrol/kerosene of all capacities with immediate effect in the country.” The bill defines generating set to mean a machine that is used for producing electricity.