The power sector in Nigeria performed dismally in 2017 in spite of promises by President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the misfortunes of the sector.
Although, the Federal Government promised to increase power generation to 12,000 megawatts in 2016, it barely achieved between 3,200 and 4,000 megawatts.
The Nigerian power sector has been a thorn in the flesh of successive governments in Nigeria after the era of Electricity Company of Nigeria (ECN).
Efforts by successive governments to stabilise power supply in the country have been marred by challenges.
After the ECN, successive governments had changed the company’s name to National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in the bid to reverse the misfortunes of the sector.
The sector was finally privatised and the PHCN sold to private investors in 2013.
The privatisation of the sector was aimed at holistically addressing power supply problems in Nigeria, but this has not been achieved, no thanks to pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta and other problems.
Stakeholders have also identified problems in the power sector to include old and weak facilities, poor metering, inefficient workforce and corruption.
Many stakeholders said that they were disappointed in the privatization as the new investors could not reverse the power situation in spite of huge investments.
An energy expert, Mr Paul Uchenna, however, said that the power situation in Nigeria was far beyond the new investors as they never anticipated the quantum of problems on the ground.
Uchenna said: “everyone who has been following this process knows that quick fixes should not be expected. These are indeed challenging times.
“What’s currently being experienced could be regarded as teething problems which every new comer to an industry process or programme typically experienced.
“I know that NERC, the government, is in talks with these investors to help mitigate some of the challenges they are facing.
“Taking the companies to court for breach of contract seems a good advice.
“Right now, Nigerians are really interested in getting steady power supply to help the economy growth and keep the nation moving on the path of development as promised by the government’’.
Mr Charles Fashola, the Managing Director, Seacof Engineering Ltd., Lagos, said that inadequate funding was a challenge to the new investors as they could not buy new equipment to replace obsolete ones.
He said that absence of new investments in the sector had worsened power supply in the country.
Mr Simon Andrew, a power consultant in Lagos, also said that the main issues of the new investors were revenue and funding challenges.
Andrew, who is also the Managing Partner, Slongy Power Consultant Ltd., Lagos, said these operational challenges would continue until there were adequate funding and improvement in revenue profile of the Discos.
“The implementation of cost reflective tariffs, access to long-term debt capital and equity injection will still not address the revenue shortfall in the system in the short- term.
“It must be understood that there is time lag between the period these investments are made and the accrual of benefits
“Even if all the required financing are available today, it will take time for technical and non-technical losses to be addressed.
“For instance, it takes between nine to 12 months to build injection substations and it will take at least two years for a Disco to address its metering gap,’’ he said.
Mrs Olufunke Osibodu, the Managing Director, Benin Electricity Distribution, said N250 billion was required annually to address electricity problems in Nigeria.
Osibodu said that huge investment was needed in the power sector for at least five years, adding that Nigerians needed to be patient for results.
“Huge investment is required to clean up the network – at least N250 billion annually.
“Nigerians must understand that the process is not a short- term fix, but a long and c