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Poor Power Supply: FG To Unbundle 11 Discos, Orders Sale Of Four

Published

2 years ago

April 23, 2024

Editor

Power distribution companies in Nigeria are currently being unbundled along state lines due to their large sizes which often result in inefficiency and ineffectiveness, the Federal Government declared on Monday.

It stated that the privatisation of the firms would not be reversed, but stressed that the Discos would be broken into more efficient structures along state lines so as to be able to deliver on their mandates.

This came as the Federal Government also ordered the sale of Discos that have been taken over by banks and the Assets Management Corporation from its original investors/owners.

Currently, four Discos are under the management of banks and AMCON.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is under the management of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), while Fidelity Bank manages Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, and Kano Electricity Distribution Company.

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is under the AMCON management.

The four Discos are under these new managements due to their inability to repay their loans to the financial institutions.

The government stated that those who acquired the Discos when the firms were officially privatised in November 2013, lacked the required expertise and financial capacity to run the companies.

This came as the Senate Committee on Power lambasted the Discos for being so inefficient since they took over the privatised assets over 10 years ago, and called for the overhaul of the power firms.

In his address, while playing host to the Senate Committee on Power, led by their Chairman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, stated that the Federal Government had commenced the restructuring of Nigeria’s 11 power distribution companies.

He also revealed that over 100 projects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria have not been completed since 2001, a period of about 23 years.

Adelabu said, “We are unbundling the Discos along state lines. Some of the Discos are too big for efficiency. They are too big for effectiveness. Ibadan Disco covers seven states. It is practically impossible for them to be efficient.

“So we are rearranging and restructuring the Discos along state lines so that each state government will know the responsible Disco for their states. Also, the federal and state governments should start exercising their rights in the operation and management of the Discos because we still own 40 per cent in the firms.

“But we have left it for the private sector operators for too long and they have messed it up. So the government must come back to take over its own right in the Discos. We are also planning to franchise the unserved communities under the Discos.”

The minister went ahead to state that “we will start seeing regulations about franchising. The fact you are Eko Disco doesn’t mean that you cannot have smaller Discos that are ready to invest in your unserved communities. So we are looking at franchising.”

Adelabu further revealed that the Oyo State Government had written to the Federal Government stating that it wants to exercise its rights in Ibadan Disco.

He said the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has been made to realise that it must sanction Discos that fail to perform, as the licences of some of the power firms might be withdrawn for non-performance.

“We are transforming the Discos and very soon you’ll see that a lot of tough decisions will be taken against these Discos because they are the last mile in the sector. If they don’t perform then the entire sector is not performing.

“So we have put pressure on NERC to make sure that it raises the bar on the activities of the Discos. If it has to withdraw licences for non-performance, why not? If it has to change the boards and managements, why not?

“And all the Discos that are still under AMCON (Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria) and some lenders (banks), within the next three months they must be sold to a technical power operator with a good reputation in utility management.

“We can no longer afford AMCON to run our Discos. We can no longer afford the banks to run our Discos. This is a technical industry and it must be run by technical experts,” the power minister stated.

Also commenting on the non-performance of Discos, a member of the committee, Senator Danjuma Goje said, “The Discos have not added anything significant to the power sector, but are just going about collecting money.

“The Discos are complete failures and should be overhauled. They have failed to live up to expectations and we have so many complaints about their poor performances.”

The Senate committee also authorised an investigative hearing on the electricity tariff hike and stated that this would be held on April 29, 2024, at the Senate.

Privatisation problems

The power minister told his guests that those who acquired the Discos when they were privatised, lacked the required expertise and financial capacity.

Adelabu said, “Our problem started from the privatisation era. Not that the privatisation has a problem in itself, but its implementation and execution have robbed the process of its laudable objectives.

“We believe that people who bought the power companies do not have the required expertise to run the utility firms. Secondly, they were not buoyant enough in terms of financial buoyancy to pay for the power plants.

“All of them used bank loans to pay for the assets. And we all know that the power business is a long-term business. It is not something you recoup your capital and make profit in a short time. So they were all under pressure to repay the bank loans that they used to acquire the power companies.

“This is why today a number of them have been taken over by their lenders, either AMCON or the banks, both local and international banks. They also promised to invest and enhance the distribution network, but they did not do this.”

The minister stated that the investors had promised to reduce the losses in the Discos, but stressed that up till now the losses had remained at about 40 per cent across the power value chain.

“So the Discos are not investing as expected,” Adelabu stated.

100 uncompleted projects

The minister told the lawmakers that over 100 power transmission projects have not been completed since 2001.

“Since 2001 till date we have over 100 uncompleted projects of the Transmission Company of Nigeria. So when we say the government has spent so much in the sector, it is true. But all the spendings have not translated to good impact on power users.

“This is because majority of these projects have not been completed, though some of them are 80 or 90 per cent completed. We have over 65 projects on power substations that are still ongoing since 2001, which is 23 years ago.

“We have about 62 lines projects across the country that were started and have not been completed. And these are being affected by exchange rate calculations, inflation, variations, etc. One thing about power projects is that if they are not completed 100 per cent, you cannot energize them,” Adelabu stated.

He said all the investments are just there lying in waste, “but we are saying that this year we must ensure that a significant number of these projects are completed so that Nigerians can enjoy the investments in the transmission company.”

On the metering gap in the power sector, the minister stated that a company received $200m in 2003 to provide three million meters but failed to do so.

“In 2003, the metering gap was less than four million meters and the Federal Government gave out $200m to a particular company to acquire three million smart meters for the industry. It was a revolving loan.

“But it is sad to let you know that this is 21 years after, no single meter was acquired by this company and the $200m which was N32bn at the time, nothing was got from the money until Mr President just gave us the approval to terminate this loan.

“He also asked us to implement the metering of the Nigerian Army formations to the tune of N12bn. You can imagine if we had acquire three million meters 21 years ago. Today the metering gap that we have is over eight million out of over 12 million customers of the power sector,” the minister stated.

Adelabu, however, noted that the Federal Government was working hard to close the metering gap.

“Mr President has come to our aid on this by forming a Presidential Metering Council, which I’m the Chairman, and he has given us a mandate that a minimum of two million meters should acquired and distributed to Nigerians every year.

“This is going to continue till the next four to five years, so that the current eight million metering gap that we have will be closed over the next four to five years.

“The funding for this project is being sourced. We have been given a seed capital of N75bn and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is coming to our aid in terms of capital for this,” Aselabu stated.

The minister also stated that the target of the Federal Government is to achieve 6,000MW of power before the end of this year, adding that this has been submitted to the President.

He called for the payment of the outstanding debts to gas companies and power generation firms.

He said the government is currently talking with two investors that should invest in the construction of 3,000MW of solar-power projects in various states to support the national grid.

The minister pointed out that Nigeria currently has an installed power generation capacity of about 14,000 megawatts.

He said, “Today we have a total of 13,250MW installed capacity in all the generating units, including hydro plants and thermal plants. If we add the 700MW coming from the recently Zungeru plant we will have close to 14,000MW installed capacity.

“But it is sad to let you know that the highest we have ever generated in this sector is 5,800MW out of an installed capacity of over 13,000MW, which is less than 50 per cent. The infrastructures are there lying fallow without adequate maintenance and the turbines are getting rusty.

“Two things are responsible, which include the inadequate transmission capacity to evacuate this power even when it is generated. The second thing is the inadequate demand coming from the Discos because they are not getting full payments from the consumers when they distribute power to them.”

Adelabu said the 5,800MW was generated in March 2021, which was over three years ago.

“But we believe that with good investments and demand for power, we can increase power generation to over 8,000MW once there is adequate infrastructure,” he stated.

PUNCH

Related Topics:Electricity tariff national grid

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Reps Raise Alarm Over N1.65trn In PIA Funds Denied To N’Delta

Published

2 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The House of Representatives Committee on South South Development Commission (SSDC) has raised alarm over Nigeria’s failure to implement two key Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) funds, saying it has denied the Niger Delta an estimated N1.65 trillion earmarked for environmental cleanup and decommissioning of obsolete oil facilities since 2021.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Julius Gbabojör Pondi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interactive session at the National Assembly, which examined the continued dormancy of the Abandonment and Decommissioning Fund and the Environmental Remediation Fund, both mandated under the PIA.

The session brought together representatives from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), SSDC, and the supervising Ministries of Petroleum and Environment, with the aim of establishing a coordinated framework to activate the funds.

According to Pondi, the data presented to the committee indicate that the Abandonment and Decommissioning Fund should have accrued between N850 billion and N1.1 trillion, while the Environmental Remediation Fund should have amassed between N420 billion and N550 billion if properly operationalised since 2021.

He described the delay as a serious breach of environmental justice and a threat to sustainable development in the Niger Delta, noting that the funds were intended to hold oil and gas companies fully accountable for decommissioning outdated infrastructure and rehabilitating degraded ecosystems.

“These funds were created to prevent the shifting of environmental liabilities to local communities. Yet, four years after the enactment of the PIA, they remain dormant, leaving farmlands polluted, rivers contaminated, fisheries depleted, and communities exposed to health hazards,” Pondi said.

The lawmaker criticised the lack of transparency and operational progress from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), calling it a demonstration of institutional incapacity.

He warned that continued failures could prompt the creation of a new dedicated agency to ensure proper administration of the funds.

Pondi reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to oversight and insisted that legislative instruments must deliver tangible benefits to host communities.

“The National Assembly cannot continue to look away while environmental liabilities multiply and communities suffer. The era of shifting cleanup responsibilities to impoverished communities must end,” he said.

In other news, drama erupted on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday as the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, launched a stinging critique of President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the worsening insecurity across the country.

He declared that Parliament should be shut down if the government fails to restore order and peace in volatile areas.

Doguwa, who spoke during a special plenary session convened to review Nigeria’s national security situation, said the nation was engaged in a full-scale war against humanity, insisting that the government’s best efforts were no longer sufficient.

While acknowledging ongoing operations by security agencies, the former Majority Leader said President Tinubu’s government had fallen short of its constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property, especially in the North, where he described the situation as devastating, unspeakable and tragically unbearable.

He warned that the deepening security crisis marked by banditry, kidnappings, terrorism and attacks on communities risked derailing political stability ahead of the 2027 general elections, arguing that there was now a “calculated attempt to demoralise the Nigerian state.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am therefore prepared to say that no matter what the government does—my government, led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC government, my party and despite all the submissions and efforts of the security agencies through their respective chairmen, I want to say that yes, the government is doing its best, the security agencies are doing their best, but with every sense of responsibility and without any fear of equivocation, their best is not good enough.

“It is not good enough because the security situation in Nigeria today is horrific. Mr. Speaker, our security situation is tragic. The situation, especially in the North where I come from, is devastating.

“Our security situation in Nigeria today is unspeakable. It is unspeakable because our people are left ravaged in tension, fear, and despair, all because we are lacking in institutional and collective responsibility as a government. Mr. Speaker, the fact remains the same.

“I like that everyone of you here says that the responsibility of every democratic or elected government or military governments is fundamentally the security of the lives and property of its own people.

“Mr. Speaker, what we have today is like a failed security system. In my opinion, it is like, to quote the popular Bob Marley in his song from the 1980s, when he was saying: war in the North, war in the West, war in the East, and war down South.”
(GUARDIAN)

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FG Enlists NYSC Members In Campaign To Fight Small Arms, Light Weapons Proliferation In Northeast

Published

3 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The Federal Government has charged the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members across the Northeast sub-region to play an active role in curbing the spread of Small Arms and Light Weapons, SALW, across the region.

Northeast Zonal Director of the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, (NCCSALW) under the Office of the National Security Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Maj.-Gen. Abubakar Adamu (Rtd), gave the charge yesterday at the NYSC Orientation Camps in Potiskum, Yobe state and Maiduguri, Borno state.

Maj:-Gen Adamu (Rtd), represented by Mr. Aminu Saleh Mohammed, Assistant Director of Strategic Communication and Information of the Centre, said the active involvement of youth, especially corps members, would significantly help to tackle insecurity.

He explained that the NCCSALW, established in 2021 under the Office of the National Security Adviser, serves as the institutional framework for regulating and controlling Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria.

While sensitizing the corps members on camp in Yobe state on the dangers of the proliferation of arms and weapons on the society, the Zonal Director said such weapons fuels banditry, kidnapping, cultism, political thuggery, insurgency and other crimes.

“When you get to your places of primary assignment, be good ambassadors of your parents, NYSC, your state and yourself by reporting anyone in possession or involved in the fabrication of small arms and light weapons,” he urged.

According to him, Small Arms and Light Weapons hinders development, increases black marketers of arms and ammunition, causes undue exposure of young people to armed-violence, heightens transborder insecurity, create fears in the minds of the people and many other vices in the society.

He called on all parents and guardians to take full responsibility of good child upbringing in all ramification, educate children on tolerance and peaceful co-existence and warn against violence.

He advised them to also observe and closely monitor behavioral changes for prompt correction.

Similarly, at the NYSC Orientation camp in Maiduguri, the Centre’s Northeast boss called on scholars and clergymen to teach and sensitize their congregations on the dangers of proliferation of SALW, tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

“They should caution their congregation against the use of illicit SALW, facilitate reconciliation among extremists and victims for successful reintegration and surrendering,” he said.

He also called on the Northeast Coordinators of NYSC to partner with the Centre to establish a Small Arms and Light Weapons Community Development Service (CDS) group in the states, similar to one already operational in Borno.

In their separate reactions, the NYSC Coordinators in Yobe and Borno states, Mr. Edison Ohuoha and Mallam Nasir Bello, welcomed the proposal, assuring that efforts would be made to set up the CDS group to support the campaign.

They promised to work closely with the Centre in order to fight and eradicate the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons within the region by carrying out sensitization in strategic locations.

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Coup: ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau

Published

4 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has suspended Guinea-Bissau from all its decision-making bodies following the military takeover in the country.

The suspension was announced after an emergency virtual meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, MSC, late Thursday.

The session was chaired by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, who also leads the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

In its communiqué, the MSC said the decision was taken in line with the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (2001), stressing that Guinea-Bissau would remain suspended until full and effective constitutional order is restored.

The coup unfolded on Wednesday, barely three days after the country’s contentious presidential and legislative elections.

The mutinous officers halted the electoral process, shut the nation’s borders and stopped the release of official results.

ECOWAS strongly condemned the takeover, describing the detention of several individuals, including incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, widely projected to win the election, as unacceptable.

“The MSC condemns in the strongest terms the coup d’état perpetrated on 26 November 2025 and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order,” the statement read.

It also rejected any arrangement that would legitimise the disruption of the democratic process or undermine the will of the people of Guinea-Bissau.

The regional bloc demanded the prompt release of all detained political actors, including President Embaló, electoral officials, and other arrested figures.

ECOWAS also insisted that the electoral commission be allowed to announce the results of Sunday’s vote without interference.

Despite regional pressure, the coup leaders have named the army’s chief of staff, General Horta N’Tam, as transitional head of state for a one-year period.