Business
Stakeholders’ Collaboration Can Surmount Nigeria’s Electricity Challenge – Fashola
Minister of Power,
Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, says the challenge in the electricity sector is not technical but artificial.
Fashola made the assertion when he received the management of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company in Abuja.
According to him, the challenge can be surmounted with stakeholders collaboration.
The minister, however, charged the company to be more customers’ friendly and to keep the public abreast of its operations in order to win their confidence.
He said that the purchase of electricity transformers by private individuals should stop henceforth; stressing that it was the responsibility of electricity distribution companies to do so.
Earlier, Managing Director of the company, Mr Ernest Mupwaya, said the visit was to solicit support for policies that affected it and the electricity industry generally.
Mupwaya said, though, the company was determined to offer world class service to electricity customers in the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi, Niger and Nassarawa, but it had challenges.
This, he said, included acts of vandalism and defaulting customers, especially government Ministries Department and Agencies, among others (MDAs).
He stressed that though the solution for going forward in the electricity sector might be complex, it required the collaboration of stakeholders to achieve success.
He, however, said that the company was already discussing with the Governor of the Central Bank on ways of offsetting debts owed it by the MDAs.
Mupwaya called on the Federal Government to strengthen laws against vandalism of cables and transformers to deter vandals from destruction of power assets in the country.
He further said that the company had also been meeting with stakeholders and communities with a view to resolving some of their challenges.
He added that measure were also being put in place to modernise the company‘s customer care service to ensure improved service delivery.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
