Nigeria MDAs to spend N22 billion on generator maintenance in 2023

Some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government in Nigeria will spend an estimated N22 billion on generator maintenance in 2023, a PREMIUM TIMES analysis has shown.

The N22 billion will be spent on maintenance and fueling generators due to Nigeria’s unstable power supply.

The amount is spread across over 200 MDAs and is expected to be higher because many agencies did not indicate their generator expenses in the 2023 budget proposal.

Some of the institutions whose budgetary expenditures on generators were not listed in the government’s budget document include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), among others.

Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, often caused by generation and transmission problems. In 2022 alone, the country’s national grid collapsed eight times. To ease their operations, private businesses and government establishments often rely on alternative sources of electricity, mainly generating sets.

In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari claimed Nigerians depend less on generators in their homes and businesses. But analysts disagreed with the position as many Nigerians continue to suffer from the ripple effect of poor power supply.

Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7.

Manufacturers in Nigeria spend at least N3.5 trillion seeking alternative sources of power for their production.

Last June, the World Bank said that Nigeria will need about $100 billion in the next 10 years to tackle the challenges in its energy sector.

Details of expenditure

According to details of budgetary expenditures from ministries, departments and agencies, many MDAs are opting for alternative power supply. The nature of maintenance the MDAs plan to carry out on generator sets isn’t immediately clear, but details show that billions of naira would be expended on generators.

The Nigerian Army tops the list of institutions with the biggest proposals with its N1.1 billion budgetary proposal for generator maintenance. A spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, did not provide details of the planned expenditure when contacted in December.

Similarly, the Federal Road Safety Commission will spend N663 million on generator maintenance while the Nigerian Police formation would expend the sum of N591 million. Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital budgeted the sum of N303 million while the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control(NAFDAC) would expend the sum of N298 million.

The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria proposed N238 million; the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) will expend N277.8 million; the National Eye Center Kaduna proposed N230 million; and the Nigerian Navy plans to spend N224 million.

Other top spenders are the Federal University of Agriculture Umudike which budgeted N225 million; the University of Lagos with N218 million; the Nigerian Defence Academy with N211 million; Nigerian Film Corporation with N188 million; while the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation budgeted N160 million.

Failed, Wasteful spending

The former Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi, said budgetary allocation for generators by the government means its privatisation exercise failed.

“The fact that the federal government is still budgeting a huge amount for generation cost and maintenance shows that the privatisation has not worked as expected. Overall the government is estimated to have spent about N2 trillion on the power sector post-privatisation,” he said.

“One of the objectives of the reform is to ensure that the government doesn’t spend more on the power sector and channel the savings into other human development projects,” he said.

He said the purpose of the privatisation has been defeated with the continuous budgetary allocations for power generation and distribution, two sectors that have been privatised.

Ijeoma Okereke-Adagba, a programme officer at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, says the budgetary expenditure on generators constitutes a waste of national resources, especially now that the country relies on external sources to fund its budget.

Mrs Okereke-Adagba said the focus of the government ought to be on how to generate revenue to fund the budget and minimise wastage.