President Bola Tinubu signs the Electricity Bill into law which allows state governments to issue licences to private investors, who can operate mini-grids and power plants within the state.
This writer acknowledges and appreciates President Tinubu in spending his political capital to address and tackle the perennial and chronic development problems affecting Nigeria, as seen in the case of fuel subsidy removal recently. This is a new dawn in the history of the government intervention, regulations and management of the electricity and power delivery to Nigerians, which has been characterised by monopoly by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the operations of the defunct National Electrical Power Authority.
In 2013, the Goodluck Jonathan administration undertook the privatisation of the electricity sector of the Nigerian economy. Consequently, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, was ditched, expunged and replaced by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. In spite of Jonathan’s reforms in the electricity/power sector, Nigerians continued to wallow, experience and suffer from the problems of electricity shortage and power outage or power epileptic across the country.
President Tinubu has demonstrated his thinking outside the box and innovative capacity, in the liberalisation and freedom of the electricity supply in Nigeria through the decentralisation of power supply in the country. Imagine with this new Electricity Act, the 36 states and FCT in the country are given the responsibility, authority and empowered to issue licences to potential private investors, who are interested in and with the financial capacity to build and operate mini-grids and power plants across the country. For instance, I see great benefits for the Nigerian universities to build and operate mini-grids and power plants on their campuses. Henceforth, President Tinubu has changed the narrative and status quo involving the monopoly and centralisation of authority in the hands of the Federal Government in approving the licensing of power plants to operate mini-grids in the country, by removing the heavy dependency on the NERC for an application’s approval to build a mini-grid power plant at the state level. Kudos to President Tinubu for making a hard decision in taking Nigerians out of the wilderness of electricity and power supply. Also, President Tinubu is yielding to political pressures and conforming to the country’s political system of true federalism in the power sector. Nigerians are witnessing and experiencing true federalism under the Tinubu administration, moving Nigeria forward, hopefully, the country is going to shed the skin of unitary governance under the Buhari government in the past eight years, which is the antithesis of growth and development of the country’s economy. Going down the memory lane, one recalls the experience of the regional growth and developments of the 1960s in Nigeria involving the western, eastern and northern regions of the country. I think that President Tinubu is borrowing a leaf and relying on the lessons learnt from that period of development in Nigerian history.
Also significant is that the newly signed Electricity Act has replaced the monopoly factor by the electricity producers, transmitters and distributors companies by introducing the elements of competition in the sector, for more companies to enter and participate in the business of providing electricity to Nigerians, particularly the consumers of electricity in the country. In addition, the Electricity Act offers the Nigerian consumers of electricity more choices of sources to obtain power supply in the towns and cities across Nigeria.
I consider the action taken by President Tinubu as part of the deregulation of the electricity/power supply in Nigeria by allowing more investors and companies to enter the power sector of the Nigerian economy. I see it as a good news and opportunity for businesses and manufacturing companies, which are seeking a reasonable and reliable supply of electricity for their growth and development. This is because the chronic problem of power shortage has crippled and even eliminated many manufacturing industries in the country. Hopefully, in the near future, the use of generators for the supply of electricity at homes, businesses and manufacturing industries would be a history in Nigeria. Before I forget, the Act has the potential benefit of reducing the costs to the consumers of electricity across Nigeria. As a result, there is hope for Nigeria to take its rightful place among the community of nations that benefit from and enjoy a regular and reliable electricity supply.
- Dr. Joel Ademisoye is a retired lecturer of Urban and Development Planning at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State
