Power sector privatisation failed — Tinubu

Ten years after the partial privatisation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) the Federal Government, on Monday, admitted that the exercise had failed to meet its objectives.

The government described as shameful the current generation, transmission and distribution level of just over 4,000 Megawatts.

Speaking in Abuja at the 2023 NESI Market Participants and Stakeholders Roundtable, NMPSR, President Bola Tinubu said after 10 years of privatisation about 90 million Nigerians were still without power supply.

The three-day conference has as theme: ‘NESI privatisation and its 10-year milestone: the journey so far,  opportunities and prospects’.

Represented by the Special Adviser, Energy and Infrastructure, Office of the Vice President, Mr Sodiq Wanka, President Tinubu noted that the investments expected from the private sector never came.

According to him, “the key objectives of the privatisation effort were to improve the efficiency of the power sector, unlock private sector investments and unleash the potential of the nation through an energized economy.

“10 years on, I believe it is fair to say that the objectives of sector privatisation have by and large, not been met.

“Over 90 million Nigerians lack access to electricity. The national grid only serves about 15% of the country’s demand. This has left households and factories to rely on expensive self-generation, which supplies a staggering 40% of the country’s demand.

“What is worse, the total amount of electricity that can be wheeled through the national grid has remained relatively flat in the last 10 years.

“The grid capacity has increased from just over 3000Mw to typically just over 4,000Mw today. Versus a 40,000Mw target by 2020 that the Federal Government had set pre-privatisation.”

On his part, the Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu expressed misgivings over the decision of the past government to embark on privatisation, noting that commercialisation would have been the best option.

Adelabu stated that the licences granted to investors in the assets would not be automatically renewed until they prove that they have met the terms contained in the original licence.

According to him, “The question for everyone is: have we achieved the objectives of the privatisation on the scale of 0-100? I will say no.

“Which is why it is pertinent for all the players in the industry to come to a roundtable to discuss the reasons for the failures and steps to be taken to remedy this.”

Credit: Vanguard