Despite the huge investments made in the energy sector since the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, about 75 percent of the Nigerian population still live without access to regular electricity supply.
According to The Nigerian Association of Energy Economists, NAEE, despite statistics indicating that 45 percent of the country’s population is currently connected to the national grid, regular supply is still restricted to just about 25 percent of the population.
Most of the people with access to electricity are found within the urban areas of the country, thus leaving citizens in the rural areas with less access to electricity supply. NAEE therefore raised concern on economic redundancy in these parts of the country, adding that despite the importance of energy to economic development, large proportions of Nigerians still lack access to electricity.
According to the NAEE President, some of the factors for this pitiable state of access to energy are endemic corruption, poor assets maintenance, inadequate gas supply to thermal generation plants, transmission infrastructure, and inconsistent government policies.