The Senate declared on Thursday that the 11-year-old privatisation of the power sector has failed, citing the continued lack of stable electricity supply nationwide.
It warned that legislative measures to repeal the policy could be proposed.
The Senate’s condemnation of the power sector’s alleged failure emerged during the consideration of a report by its Committee on Power, which investigated frequent national grid collapses and other related issues.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who presented the findings, attributed the ongoing grid failures to factors including ageing infrastructure, abandoned projects worth trillions of naira, regulatory inefficiencies, security lapses, lack of modern monitoring systems like SCADA, and inadequate financial oversight.
Abaribe pointed out that despite significant investments in electricity infrastructure, the grid has collapsed 105 times over the past decade.
He also noted the substantial costs involved in restarting power plants following these failures.
According to the report, restarting a plant after a grid collapse (known as a “black start”) is considerably more expensive than normal operations.
For example, while the running costs for plants like Azura, Delta, or Shiroro are around $105,000, restarting them after a collapse can cost up to $7 million per incident.
Overall, grid collapses have cost Nigeria an estimated N42.5 billion for just these three plants, with wider implications for the entire power sector.
The report emphasised that the National Grid, over 50 years old, is outdated and in urgent need of modernization to meet current operational standards.
Abaribe also highlighted other critical issues, such as operational inefficiencies, abandoned projects, regulatory gaps, security challenges, and the lack of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, which are vital for real-time monitoring and management.
“Whenever a plant is shut down, they restart the plant and to restart it which they call a black start, it costs far more than running the plant.
“While it costs $105,000 to run the plant, to restart it will cost $7m. So anytime we have a shutdown occasioned by grid collapse, three plants in Nigeria, that supply most of our electricity, Azura, Delta, and Shiroro, to restart the plant cost Nigeria $25m or ₦42.5bn and if we expand it to the rest of the operating plants in Nigeria, it is actually not quantifiable.
“Aging infrastructure has been identified as a critical factor contributing to frequent grid failures. Many components of the grid are outdated and have not undergone necessary maintenance or upgrades, leading to increased vulnerability to failures,” he added.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), criticized the privatization policy as flawed and exploitative, stating it imposed undue financial burdens on Nigerians.
“The Discos are out for profit while they make our people suffer. I never imagined that a private person would collect money for services he did not render and Nigerians are helpless. The privatized power sector is more of a failure now “, he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Abdul Ningi added that the continued failures in the power sector are largely due to a lack of accountability.
He argued that without penalties for shortcomings, the sector’s inefficiencies would remain unresolved.
He said, “Over the years, nobody has been punished for the lapses of the power sector.
“Reports alone without sanctions will not allow Nigeria to make any headway. The implication is that the problems will continue.”
The Senate has however granted Abaribe’s committee an additional six weeks to conduct a thorough investigation into the issues in the power sector and report back for further legislative action.
