The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating expenditure in Nigeria’s power sector has directed the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to appear with core investors in the generation and distribution companies over persistent electricity supply challenges.
Chairperson of the Committee, Ibrahim Aliyu, issued the directive on Thursday after receiving submissions from the Director-General of the BPE, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, during the continued investigative hearing at the National Assembly.
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Mr Aliyu said the core investors must appear before the panel to explain the state of their operations and justify the confidence the government placed in their capacity during the privatisation process.
“We need to see these co-investors because we relied on their capacity and capability. Before this Committee sits on 15 December, letters will go out to them,” he said.
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The committee chair noted that President Bola Tinubu is working to settle some outstanding issues in the sector, adding that the inquiry aims to identify the root causes of the failures and chart a path forward.
Mr Aliyu also highlighted the gap between Nigeria’s installed and actual electricity generation.
He said, “I am happy that I have mentioned that there is a considerable improvement from 1999 or 2000, because the generation then was just about 1500 MW altogether for the whole country, and now we are talking about 10,600 installed capacity. We hope that the actual generation may be 10,000 MW. We only wheel 8,000 and only distribute 4,000.”
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BPE reports improved generation performance
In his presentation, the BPE Director General, Ayodeji Gbeleyi, told the committee that power generation from Kainji and Jebba hydro plants has risen from about 600 MW at privatisation to 1,100 MW, representing nearly 20 per cent of daily supply to the national grid.
He also disclosed that the Egbin Power Plant, which had only two operational turbines at the time of privatisation, now has all six turbines functioning.
“It’s one of the major providers of power to the grid, dispatching any figure between 680 to 900MW of power, depending on grid capacity, when the grid can offtake that power.
“So, there is a mixed grid. Even when we talk about the DISCOs, Sir, the DISCOs that we knew, or the power holding company that we knew yesterday, is not operating at the same level as the DISCOs today.”
Mr Gbeleyi added that the cost-reflective tariff introduced for Band A customers in April 2023 has helped some previously unprofitable DisCos regain financial viability.
He said the BPE is improving governance standards at the DisCos to reduce leakages and ensure that revenue generated is reinvested in the network to provide safer and more reliable electricity.
“We see the sector as a cup that is half full as against a cup that is half empty,” he said. “All critical stakeholders are working hard in a manner that will continue to improve the overall performance of the sector.”
The DG also revealed that as of December, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) owed N4 trillion to operators, despite total industry revenue standing at N1.7 trillion in 2024. He said revenue is expected to rise to N2.3 trillion by the end of the month.
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He reported a major improvement in grid stability, noting that the country recorded fewer than three grid disturbances this year, compared with almost 20 last year.
Mr Gbeleyi further informed the committee that Nigeria recently achieved a milestone it had pursued for 13 years, successfully synchronising its power pool with the West African Power Pool, which comprises 14 ECOWAS countries.
According to him, this integration was executed by the Nigerian Independent System Operator, resulting in clearer separation between market operations and core engineering functions of the transmission network.
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