Subsidy Savings: Governors and Nigeria’s Power Problems (2)

SOStainabilityWeekly

Edited by Oke Epia, E-mail: sostainability01@gmail.com  | WhatsApp: +234 8034000706

Trends and Threads

Last week, this page began a series on how Nigeria’s 36 states have been implementing the 2023 electricity law, which liberalised control of power generation, transmission, and distribution in the country. Before this law was enacted in June 2023, electricity was a solely federal affair, as power was on the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). A key objective of the series is to shift the debate on subsidy removal to how state governors have applied the significantly increased revenues accruing from the federation account to improve access to power in their jurisdictions. Judicious use of public resources can help solve Nigeria’s power problems and unlock productivity for industries, small and medium-scale businesses, households, and individuals who require regular, affordable, and cleaner supply of electricity to power production.

The first edition featured six states – Abia, Ekiti, Kaduna, Taraba, Bayelsa, and Kogi – and used the easy metrics of legal, regulatory, and evidence of project pipelines to measure their performance in the power sector. This edition profiles another six states: Zamfara, Oyo, Cross River, Benue, Ebonyi, and Yobe. Have these states applied public resources to move the needle on power in the last three years? The graphical illustrations provide summary answers.

This light-touch assessment precedes a more detailed reporting and documentation of power access, affordability, and clean energy in the states by SOStainability’s SDG7 industry report and success stories.