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Nigeria’s Power Sector Has Collapsed, Says National Economic Council

The National Economic Council (NEC), which comprises of top officials of the federal and the 36 states of the federation, yesterday posted a damning verdict on Nigeria’s power sector.

In no mistaken words, NEC, which met in Abuja, declared that the country’s entire power sector had collapsed and called for steps to revive it.

The NEC meeting, which is overseen by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, as the chairman, was attended by state governors, who are automatic members alongside some ministers.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting that held at the presidential Villa, explained that NEC had set up a committee to find the way out of the problem.

He disclosed that the government had supported the electricity sector with N1.7 trillion in the last three years without results, declaring that “this is not sustainable.”

el-Rufai said:  “Let me begin with the issue of electricity, I will plead that we don’t begin to pass judgement until we submit our final report. The problems in electricity are many, capacity is one perhaps.

“There are some that have shown lack of capacity, it is true, but there are many that are fantastic, so it is very difficult to pass quick judgement.

“There are other issues. The entire sector has broken down, the tariff is an issue; the way the privatisation was done is an issue to many. So, there are many issues. What we have agreed on is that there are fundamental problems in the electricity supply industry.

“And that you cannot privatise an industry and then over three years since privatisation, you pump in N1.7 trillion of government money into it; that is not privatisation.

“The federal government has supported the electricity sector with N1.7 trillion in the last three years and this is not sustainable. So, solutions must be found, those solutions are not going to be nice, they may be painful but the only way to solve the structural problems in the industry is to take some very difficult decisions,” he said.

The governor remarked that there were 80 million Nigerians who do not have access to electricity, saying that the government cannot continue like this.

el-Rufai added that “we can also look at other options and have cost and benefits attached to them for the consideration of the Economic Council of the government.

“At the end of the day, we must have an honest conversation as Nigerians and know that unless we fix electricity we cannot make progress. And this electricity is required not only in the cities but in every home and every rural area. And how do we fix the structural problem in the industry so that it doesn’t cost the government this much to cover the whole of the country?

On the move to borrow N2 trillion pensions’ funds to finance infrastructure, he said that there was a bit of misunderstanding about it.

He said that “first of all, it is not true that this money is the people’s money. The people contribute and the government also matched their contributions, so it’s partly government money, it is partly workers’ contribution. Every month when you contribute, there are also employers’ contributions.

“So, the pension money will not be lost, in fact, what is invested will be gotten back with interest. More than that, you get the public benefits of safe roads that will keep those pensioners contributing that money alive, provide jobs for their children, and create economic opportunities in the country,

“By the time you invest these monies in improving the highways, rail system that works, better electricity, the economic impact will be totally unquantifiable. The benefits are for every Nigerian,” he stated.

During his briefing, Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu disclosed that barring any unforeseen circumstance, Nigeria would be declared polio free by June this year.

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Copyright 2020 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant source.

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