The Federal Government has described the performance of electricity distribution companies in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, as disappointing.
Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, who stated this at a two-day retreat organised by the Senate Committee on Power, noted the DisCos have been frustrating the efforts by the government to improve power supply.
A statement by the Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Media Relations to the Minister, Bolaji Tunji said Adelabu spoke on the persistent crisis threatening to derail progress in the sector which is chronic underinvestment in distribution infrastructure, which continues to cripple service delivery nationwide in spite of landmark reforms in the electricity sector.
The minister revealed glaring disparities in distribution company performance, with aging networks, rampant electricity theft, and poor investment deepening reliance on unsustainable subsidies and leaving millions in darkness.
“We need to get tough with the DisCos, as they can easily frustrate all the gains we have made. They have disappointed us in performance expectations. Whatever we do in generation does not mean anything to consumers if it is frustrated at the distribution points,” said Adelabu.
He noted that in the 2003 restructuring of the sector, the DisCos were supposed to have technical partners, but a lot of them showed partnership with foreign companies for that purpose which lasted for about three months, immediately they took over, those companies left.
“So we need utility companies that can invest in the sector to improve infrastructure, improve service,” he said, adding that, “a lot of them went to the banks to take loans to buy the assets after taking over. Instead of providing infrastructure they are taking out the money to pay the loans.”
According to the minister, despite tariff adjustments that boosted market liquidity by 70 percent—raising sector revenue from ₦1 trillion in 2023 to ₦1.7 trillion in 2024—the distribution segment remains the weakest link.
“In the fourth quarter of 2024, DisCos in the North remitted just ₦124.4 billion (30 percent) of their ₦408.86 billion invoice, with Abuja DisCo accounting for 85 percent of Northern payments. Southern DisCos fared slightly better, remitting ₦254.6 billion (67 percent), though 70 percent of this came from Lagos DisCos alone. These discrepancies are due largely to crumbling infrastructure outside economic hubs, where underinvestment has left networks dilapidated,” he said.
