Nigeria has spent over N10 trillion on its electricity sector over the past 13 years, yet power generation remains stagnant and far below the country’s actual needs.
Massive spending, minimal results
The staggering sum of N10 trillion was poured into the sector through a combination of infrastructure projects, metering programmes, government guarantees, and various financial interventions. Despite this massive injection of public finance, the impact on the national grid has been negligible.
Current data shows that average power generation is still hovering around 4,500 megawatts. This figure represents a fraction of Nigeria’s estimated total demand, which is currently over 30,000 megawatts.
A persistent energy crisis
The gap between generation and demand highlights a systemic failure in the management of the power sector. For over a decade, successive interventions have failed to move the needle significantly, leaving millions of Nigerians and businesses to rely on expensive alternative energy sources.
The failure of these investments persists despite recent promises from President Bola Tinubu to overhaul the sector and resolve the chronic power shortages affecting the nation’s productivity.
The current situation suggests that the sheer volume of capital deployed has not translated into operational efficiency or increased capacity, raising questions about how these funds were utilised across various infrastructure and metering schemes.
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