President Bola Tinubu raised concerns on Monday regarding the state of Nigeria’s power sector privatisation, emphasizing that it has not fully achieved its goals despite being in private hands for a decade.

During the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry’s market participants and stakeholder roundtable, President Tinubu also called for the recapitalisation of power distribution companies (Discos).

Tinubu pointed out that the national grid currently serves only approximately 15 percent of the nation’s electricity demand, leaving over 90 million Nigerians without access to electricity.

ALSO READ: Timi Frank calls on Tinubu to remove Nyesom Wike as FCT minister

He stated that the grid’s capacity has remained relatively stagnant over the last decade, failing to meet the Federal Government’s 40,000MW target by 2020 set before privatisation.

The President attributed the sector’s underperformance over the past decade to well-known issues such as commercial, governance, and operational challenges.

He highlighted that the sector’s chronic underinvestment, particularly in transmission and distribution, has been a significant obstacle.

To address these challenges, Tinubu suggested several key steps for the sector’s recovery.

In the short term, he emphasized the need to address commercial issues and enhance the sector’s investment appeal.

This involves revising tariffs to reflect actual costs and losses within the value chain and ensuring financial recovery for investments.

ALSO READ: Tinubu urges police to curb corruption for public trust

Tinubu also stressed the importance of creating an environment where underperforming entities do not hinder the entire sector.

He urged a reorganisation and recapitalisation process for Discos, noting that they are currently under-capitalised by nearly N2 trillion.