- Stakeholders demand Senate action on the failure of Nigeria’s electricity sector post-privatisation, citing power cuts and inefficiency.
- Criticisms focus on rising tariffs, reliance on generators, and electricity bands creating social inequalities and financial strain on Nigerians.
- Call for public-public partnerships (PuP) over public-private partnerships (PPP), urging reforms prioritising service delivery and human rights over profits.
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s power sector have criticised its fluctuating power generation, which is between 4,000 and 5,800 megawatts, calling it a major embarrassment.
The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), and Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) blamed the sector’s failure for the recurring power cuts. They urged the Senate to hold a public hearing to assess the sector’s performance since its privatisation in 2013.
In a letter dated January 27, 2025, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the groups expressed frustration over the privatisation, stating it failed to serve over 200 million Nigerians. NUEE National President Adedeye Adebiyi, NUEE General Secretary Dominic Igwebike, AUPCTRE National President Benjamin Anthony, AUPCTRE General Secretary Sikiru Waheed, CFSF Executive Director Sani Baba, and RDI Executive Director Philip Jakpor signed the letter.
The groups had earlier hosted a symposium in Lagos, where they reviewed the Senate Committee on Power’s report on frequent national grid collapses. They concluded that the power sector remains in crisis.
Jakpor, who released the letter, condemned the increase in electricity tariffs and the division of Nigerians into electricity bands, which, he argued, created an unfair class system. “Nigerians now rely on generators, incurring high financial, environmental, and health costs,” he said.
The stakeholders demanded that the Senate immediately hold a public hearing to allow Nigerians to share their experiences with the electricity sector since privatisation. They also called for ending World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) initiatives that promote Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), claiming these models prioritise profits over service delivery and human rights.
Instead, the groups pushed for adopting the Public-Public Partnership (PuP) model, which they believe has proven more effective than privatisation. They also emphasised the need for sustained investment in human capital within the public sector to improve transparency and efficiency.
The stakeholders called for an end to unfair practices that target workers during institutional reforms and advocated for regular worker training and performance-based evaluations to boost efficiency in the sector.
They argued that privatisation had failed to provide reliable power and only increased costs. The groups insisted that privatisation drained the country’s resources and called for a new approach to rebuild trust in the electricity sector.
With the public growing increasingly dissatisfied with power outages and rising costs, the stakeholders urged the Senate to take immediate action to prevent further decline in the sector. They pressed for reforms prioritising citizens’ needs over corporate profits while ensuring fairness and accountability.