Power Sector Privatisation Should be Reviewed – ActionAid

• Power Sector Privatisation Should be Reviewed

The privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector has failed and should be reviewed by the Federal Government if it wants the country to make progress in the electricity industry, ActionAid, an international development organisation working in Nigeria and 44 other countries, has said.

According to the global agency, electricity has continued to be a major challenge in Nigeria, adding that the private investors that bought over the power firms have failed to live up to expectation.

Nigeria’s power sector was officially privatised and handed over to investors on November 1, 2013 by the Federal Government. Before the privatisation of the sector, the whole power value chain was run by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

After the privatisation, the value chain was unbundled into the power distribution, generation and transmission segments. The successor power distribution and generation companies formed from the exercise were sold to investors, while the government currently manages the TCN.

Speaking at a press briefing on the state of the nation after the agency’s 9th Annual General Meeting in Abuja on Saturday, the ActionAid’s Country Director, Mrs. Ojobo Atuluku, described the privatisation as an act of injustice to Nigerians by the Federal Government.

She said, “Given the relevance of electricity to the growth of industry and sustenance and survival of the SMEs, the government can no longer abandon its responsibility of ensuring that the critical sector of power management works.

“The Federal Government must admit that the effort at privatisation of electricity supply has failed. It is important that the Federal Government takes a more progressive stand on power generation and management in the country.”