The Licensed Electrical Contractors Association of Nigeria (LECAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that all electrical contractors register with the association to check high rate of quackery.
The Executive Chairman of LECAN, FCT Chapter, Mr Goddy Mba, made the appeal in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mba said that the issue of quackery had been a very big problem in the electricity industry but members of the association were doing their best to checkmate it.
He said that the only way government could reduce quackery in the electricity sector was to ensure that every electrical contractor certified by Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) be made to register with LECAN.
Mba said that NEMSA was saddled with the responsibility of licensing contractors so that they could practice by giving competency certificate.
According to him, the reason for the contractors registering with the association is to ensure that they are being monitored to avoid the use of sub-standard materials.
He said that there were some contractors licensed by NEMSA who were not part of the association and were also causing a lot of problems in the industry.
“Electricity is an important aspect of our lives in Nigeria, so government should assist us by ensuring that every electrical contractor certified by NEMSA is made to register with LECAN so that we can control them.
“If government can assist us to ask the contractors to register with LECAN, when they carry out bad jobs in the network, we can track them to ensure the right thing is done.
“We have a safety team going about to check the jobs done by our people to ensure they do the right thing,” he said.
Mba said that another way government could help the association was to attach them with NEMSA and give them power to go to sites with security agents like every other association.
“Government should give us power to go into the field to know those who are doing illegal and substandard jobs in executing their contracts because if brought into the picture, we can fish them out.
“Also we need government to help us be like Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) even though you are a lawyer or a doctor you cannot practice except you are registered.
“We have monitoring team that go about to find out if the people executing electrical are certified by NEMSA to carry out those jobs.”
The chairman said that there was a law that NEMSA had put in place which states that nobody should be seen in any premises carrying out electrical installation work without registration.
“It states that if such person is caught, the person will be charged to court and if found guilty, the person and made to pay N500,000 or three years jail term.
“On our own we are doing our best but more need to be done as there are many illegal electrical contractors out there,” he said.
