Nigerians May Not Enjoy Stable Power Supply In Next 5 Years

The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) has disclosed that inhabitants of Nigeria may not have stable power supply in the next five years except the challenges confronting the sector are addressed.

Mr Sunday Oduntan, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy of ANED disclosed this at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to him, there are challenges inhibiting power sector efficiency and they include liquidity gap of N1.3 trillion, lack of improved generation due to mismatched electricity pricing.

“Lack of much needed investment in transmission and distribution network and rising energy theft among others.

“Except these challenges are addressed, we may not have stable power supply in the next five years,’’ he said.

Oduntan said that the illiquidity in the sector must be prioritised because the sector could not afford to collapse.

“If the power sector collapses, many banks will collapse because in 2013 during privatisation, only one Distribution Company obtained foreign loan, others took loans from local banks in dollars.

“Privatisation was based on 30 per cent equity and 70 percent loan.

“The model was borrowed from New Delhi, India and it is working as we speak. If it is successful in India, why is it not working in Nigeria,’’ he added.