Atiku And The Power Sector Reforms

The call by the former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar for the reversal of the privatisation of the power sector, raises a lot of suspicion. This is moreso when the management of the sector by government in the country over the years did not yield the desired result.

This is against the backdrop of the immense demand for power as a cardinal imperative for socio-economic development of the country. Even so, examples from other countries have shown that the key to a functional power sector is in the hands of the private sector.

That perhaps informed the decision of the President Olusegun Obasanjo government to spend trillions of Naira to privatise the power sector before now. The failure of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 challenged ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to launch the Roadmap on Power in 2010.

In line with the roadmap, the government of Goodluck Jonathan completed the handover of the country’s electricity generating companies (Gencos) and electricity distribution companies (Discos) to new private sector operators on November 1, 2013.

This singular act was widely acclaimed as one of the most transparent privatization exercises in Africa. In fact, the world sees the privatisation of the power sector by ex-President Jonathan’s government as one of the greatest achievements of the administration and the best impetus for growth in Nigeria. This is because the power reform is seen as a catalyst to the country’s economic transformation.

The power sector reform, we believe will improve electricity supply to homes and businesses, create more jobs, promote higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and lead to increased household incomes. It will also improve standard of living, youth employment and social security.

Indeed, to dislodge the cabals massed against a sustainable public power supply and meet the needs of former PHCN workers among other challenges to privatise the sector was by no means easy. But to reverse it will be of greater cost and waste for Nigeria.

Two years into the privatisation and coming on stream of the Gencos and Discos, there is no doubt that electricity generation has increased significantly from 2800mw in 2011 to about 4517mw, resulting in more hours of power availability per day in major cities across the country.

Similarly, electricity transmission lines in the country is also known to have increased from 4.550km in 2010 to 15,760km in 2015, while transmission substations have also increased from 121 to 162 in spite of some teething problems and the deliberate sabotage of electricity installations.

The distribution capacity of the power sector is said to have almost tripled from 3,658mw in 2010 to 9,200mw in 2014 due to the inauguration of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) distribution projects. Over 4,000 rural communities have since 2010 been connected to the National Grid.

But the sector has not yet achieved its full potentials because of the activities of saboteurs, especially power and gas pipeline vandals who are said to attack pipelines networks across the country at an average of once every four days.

In addition to the sponsorship of dealers of electricity generators, the alleged involvement of political opponents has become a challenge.

Having failed to deter the government through the various acts of sabotage, the use of some national figures to stop the privatisation cannot be ruled out.

It is therefore sad that persons who have seen the benefits of privatisation in the telecoms industry and the broadcast industry among others would ask the President Muhammadu Buhari government to reverse the process. It is callous, unpatriotic and unprogressive.

If this retrogressive proposal is considered, Nigeria would have lost the time and resources deployed in settling workers of PHCN, providing the base for private sector participation among others. The move will also mean the victory of a few cabals who rip-off Nigerians in that sector and a sure return to the era of darkness.

We therefore urge the new government to do what will give the greatest number of Nigerians joy, and that is steady electricity. The government must remove all obstacles in the way of the power companies including sabotage to enable the sector grow in private hands.

Nigeria must make progress and not suffer the age-long motion of “one step forward, two steps backwards”.