Nigeria’s lingering electricity crisis has once again taken centre stage at the National Assembly, as the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating power sector reforms and expenditure from 2007 to 2024 accused electricity distribution companies (DisCos) of deliberately undermining the country’s power supply system through years of poor investment and failure to meet contractual obligations.
The committee, led by Hon. Ibrahim Almustapha Aliyu, made the allegations during ongoing public hearings in Abuja, where key operators and government agencies are being grilled over the performance of the electricity sector since its privatization. According to the lawmakers, DisCos have persistently failed to deliver on the business plans they submitted during the 2013 privatization exercise, which formed the basis for taking over the nation’s distribution assets.
The committee noted that many DisCos promised massive capital injection, large-scale network expansion, deployment of modern transformers, and nationwide metering programmes. However, more than a decade later, these commitments have largely remained unfulfilled, leaving vast sections of the country underserved and heavily reliant on estimated billing.
One of the central issues raised by the committee is that while the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) claims it can wheel up to 8,000 megawatts of electricity, DisCos are currently able to take only about 4,000 megawatts. Lawmakers argue that this gap clearly shows that distribution infrastructure — not generation or transmission alone — has become the major bottleneck in the power value chain.
The committee further accused DisCos of refusing to invest in network expansion or explore franchising arrangements that could have improved service delivery in densely populated and industrial areas. This, it said, has fuelled widespread energy theft, meter bypassing, revenue losses, and growing consumer frustration, ultimately weakening the entire electricity market.
Beyond technical failures, the probe also focuses on financial accountability. The House is examining billions of naira spent by successive governments through subsidies, tariff shortfalls payments, intervention funds, and Central Bank-backed facilities to stabilise the sector. Lawmakers want to establish whether these funds translated into tangible improvements in electricity supply or were absorbed without commensurate results.
The investigation extends across the entire power value chain — generation, transmission, and distribution — with several power generation companies already facing questions over undeclared payments and discrepancies in their financial records. The committee says the goal is to determine who benefited from public funds, how the money was spent, and why Nigerians continue to suffer erratic power supply despite heavy government intervention.
Industry experts have long argued that many DisCos entered privatization with weak capital bases, relying heavily on bank loans to acquire assets. This has left them struggling with huge debts, limited capacity to invest, and poor infrastructure maintenance — a situation now compounded by inflation, foreign exchange challenges, and low metering levels.
The House committee has warned that its findings may lead to far-reaching recommendations, including stricter regulatory enforcement, restructuring of poorly performing DisCos, possible licence withdrawals, or broader reforms to protect electricity consumers and the national economy.
As the probe continues, Nigerians are watching closely to see whether the investigation will result in real accountability or become another missed opportunity in the long struggle to fix the country’s broken power sector.