he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said the long drawn dispute between Interstate Electrics Limited and Geometric Power Aba Limited over who should generate, transmit and distribute electricity in the Aba and Ariaria business districts of the Enugu electricity distribution network would have been sorted out if not for the subsisting lawsuits filed by the contending parties, ThisDay reports.

NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi, disclosed that long before the expiration of the term of former President Goodluck Jonathan, he (Jonathan) had granted his consent to determine the dispute, using its regulatory powers but that his initial efforts were bungled by the lawsuits.

Amadi stated that the commission had quickly acted on the presidential consent, and first moved to set up a public hearing in line with standard regulatory practices, but had to subsequently pull back following a notice of existing lawsuits by the contending parties.

But in an update of the dispute and what the commission would likely do next to resolve the dispute, Amadi explained that the issue was discussed in the commission’s last management meeting, with a resolve to revisit it based on the consent of the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He noted that like it had always held, the lease dispute is best resolved through the regulator of the sector as done in other climes. According to him, a quick resolve of the dispute would reinforce NERC’s policy to encourage investment in embedded power generation in the country.