Enough of rhetoric: Let there be light, please!

 

One issue that politicians have been using to campaign since the birth of Nigeria is the provision of electricity, otherwise known as power. An online source claimed that electricity in Nigeria began with a 60KW plant in Marina, Lagos, in 1898, making it one of Africa’s earliest electrified cities. The sector evolved from localised colonial generators to the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1951, later merging in 1972 with the Niger Dams Authority to form the national grid monopoly, NEPA. Despite its 128-year history, there is an acute shortage of power in Nigeria. The sector has undergone several reforms without much to show for it. The country’s economy is still largely powered by private electricity generating set despite billions of dollars invested to improve public power supply.

In the last couple of weeks, Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu (Pemkelemesi), has been in the eye of the storm as he’s been caricatured as Minister of Darkness. There is a trending sarcastic video of a coronation ceremony for him as the king of the darkness kingdom. I pity the gentleman who is rumoured to be on the verge of resigning to join the gubernatorial race of his political party, the All Progressives Congress, in Oyo State, hoping he will be lucky to be elected governor on this third attempt. He hopes to join his predecessor in office, Liyel Imoke, who was a former Minister of Power and Steel (July 2003 – January 2007) and was elected Governor of Cross River State, serving from 2007 to 2015

Last Saturday, March 14, 2026, I was one of the six panellists on a two-hour flagship programme of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, named Radio Link. All of us represented different interest groups. A former Chairman / CEO of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr Sam Amadi, represented the regulator, and the over 26 electricity generating companies were represented by Dr Joy Ogaji. She’s the CEO and Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies; the 11 distribution companies were represented by Chief Sunday Oduntan, who is the Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors. Others were Executive Secretary, Power and Energy Consumer Advocates of Nigeria, Mr. Uket Obonga, the Executive Director Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Chief Princewill Okorie, and I.  The anchor was Jeremiah Jime. It was a no-holds-barred discussion with audience participation. Indeed, several listeners called in from across Nigeria to express their views.

The challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity sector are multifarious. They include corruption, incompetence, impunity, recklessness, sabotage, theft, vandalism, and lack of political will, to mention a few. It was said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government spent about $16bn on electricity provision, with little to show for it. It is on record that at least two former Ministers of Power are at present being prosecuted for corruption. Former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, is undergoing prosecution by the EFCC for a $6bn fraud related to the Mambilla Power Project. He is accused of awarding the contract without proper approvals and holding a prior relationship with the contractor. Another one is Engineer Saleh Mamman, who is facing N33.8bn fraud allegation. He was removed as the power minister in September 2021 by the then-president, the late Muhammadu Buhari, after two years stint in office.

The distribution companies have also been accused of corrupt practices, especially in their continuation of the obnoxious estimated billings and false claims of providing free meters to customers. Some electricity consumers, too, have been accused of energy theft through illegal connection and what is known as bypass, which is meant to ensure that their electrical appliances, such as air conditioners, iron, electric cookers and other high-energy-consuming electronics are connected directly to the electric pole and not through the prepaid meters.

Nigeria has been experiencing frequent national grid collapses in recent times. Two of that has happened in January 2026. National grid collapses, particularly in Nigeria, are primarily caused by technical failures, including the simultaneous tripping of multiple transmission lines and generating units. Key factors include inadequate gas supply for thermal plants, ageing infrastructure, low water levels for hydro plants, vandalism of infrastructure, and a lack of spinning reserves to manage frequency imbalances.

On the issue of vandalism, the Transmission Company of Nigeria recorded 131 cases of infrastructure vandalism across its network in 2025. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, disclosed this in his end-of-year message to staff, partners, and stakeholders. Bayelsa State was in darkness for four months in 2024 due to the vandalism of transmission towers, starting from late July and lasting until the end of November.

On top of the aforementioned, as of early 2026, the Nigerian government owes electricity-generating companies approximately N6.8tn for power supplied to the national grid.  As of early 2026, data covering the 12 months from October 2024 to September 2025 indicates that the Nigerian government incurred a total electricity subsidy obligation of approximately N1.98tn. This is despite introducing tariff bands A-E, which have made electricity consumers pay more for power consumption.

This subsidy is used to cover the shortfall between the actual cost-reflective tariff (cost of electricity generation) and the regulated tariff paid by consumers, particularly for consumers in Bands B to E, as Band A customers experienced a tariff increase in April 2024.

It is saddening that while the GenCos are able to generate about 7,000MW of electricity, our weak transmission lines can only evacuate about 4,500MW. Whether in terms of power generation, transmission and distribution, there are severe challenges. Industry experts estimated a need for 30,000MW to meet basic residential, commercial, and industrial demand. We all can see the staggering shortfall.

Power sector reforms already undertaken include: the 2005 privatisation, which unbundled the National Electric Power Authority into 6 GenCos, 11 DisCos, and one transmission company to foster efficiency. The NERC was created to regulate the industry, alongside the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company. The Electricity Act 2023 is a landmark legislation that de-monopolised the sector, allowing states to legislate, issue licenses, and manage their own electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Recent regulations (2023/2024) encourage private investment in 1MW capacity minigrids, aimed at reducing dependence on the national grid. These happened after electricity was taken off the exclusive legislative list and put under the concurrent list in the Nigerian Constitution. National Integrated Power Projects is a fast-track initiative focused on improving transmission and generation infrastructure. The latest of these initiatives came on Friday, March 6, 2026, with the setting up of an 11-member committee to ensure the smooth sailing incorporation of the Grid Asset Management Company Limited.

The truth is that without an efficient and affordable public power supply, there won’t be tangible development because of the rising cost of doing business. It is noteworthy that electricity consumers nationwide are dissatisfied with the current state of play in our power sector. While I agree that Ministries, Departments and Agencies owing DisCos should pay up, service delivery of the DisCos is grossly sub-optimal. Customers still experience estimated billing and are made to pay for troubleshooting when there is vandalism of electricity transformers and cables. The customers are overburdened and are made to be at the receiving end. NERC, which is the regulatory agency, has been lax and allows the DisCos to act with impunity. It’s high time these oligarchs were called to order!

I.G: @jideojong