By Fatima Ndagi
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating Nigeria’s power sector reforms and expenditures from 2007 to 2024 has accused electricity distribution companies (DisCos) of undermining the country’s power supply through years of underinvestment, poor infrastructure expansion, and failure to implement commitments in their business plans.
Speaking at a hearing on Wednesday, committee chairman Arch. Ibrahim Almustapha Aliyu said many DisCos misled the government during privatization by presenting ambitious plans they never fulfilled. Over a decade after the takeover, he noted, the companies have failed to upgrade substations, transformers, and distribution networks as required.
“Despite the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s capacity to wheel up to 8,000 megawatts, DisCos still take only about 4,000 megawatts due to weak infrastructure — a problem they brought upon themselves,” Aliyu said.
He added that distribution firms have “refused to invest, refused to expand, and refused franchising options,” creating conditions that now fuel energy theft, meter bypassing, and growing consumer dissatisfaction nationwide.
“You have caused this problem because you could not expand from what you inherited,” Aliyu said. “For 13 to 14 years now, if you had made the necessary investments, there would be no issue. Energy uptake would be higher, costs would be lower, and Nigerians would be satisfied.”
The lawmaker also highlighted that many consumers resort to illegal connections because they are billed for electricity that is either not supplied or grossly inadequate.
“How do you expect someone whose monthly bill equals their salary to keep paying? People will look for alternatives. Your refusal to invest has contributed to this unholy attitude of bypassing and stealing energy,” he said.
Aliyu noted that Nigerians once enjoyed more reliable supply in some areas under the defunct NEPA/NITEL era and had expected significant improvements following privatization — expectations that, he said, remain unmet. He challenged DisCos to reconcile their earlier claims of competence and financial capacity with their current inability to meet tariff obligations, expand networks, and deliver adequate service.
Responding, Dr. Mahmood Abubakar, Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer of Kaduna Electric, said about 60 percent of electricity supplied nationwide is subsidized, limiting investor confidence and constraining capital investments for network upgrades.
“Only about 40 percent of electricity, mostly consumed by Band A customers, is cost-reflective. The rest relies on government subsidies, which are often delayed or unpaid,” Abubakar said.
He further explained that high energy losses due to theft make full revenue recovery impossible, restricting DisCos’ ability to secure loans or investments for infrastructure improvement. Delayed subsidy payments, he noted, affect the entire electricity value chain, including generation companies’ ability to pay gas suppliers, ultimately undermining power production.
“The subsidy comes whenever the government decides to pay. It affects everyone — DisCos cannot pay market invoices fully, Gencos cannot fulfil firm contracts with gas suppliers, and the whole chain is weakened,” Abubakar said.
