The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has urged the Federal Government to redirect the $2 billion available to the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), towards addressing the persistent power supply challenges facing Nigeria’s industrial hubs.
Vice Chairman of the commission, Musiliu Oseni, made the call at an event organised to mark the commission’s 20th anniversary, with the, theme
“Strengthening Power Sector Governance for a Sustainable Future.”
He stated that the government must adopt a more deliberate policy framework that supports industrial power development if the country hopes to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Oseni explained that while the REA’s mini-grid projects have improved energy access in rural communities, they are not sufficient to drive industrialisation or economic prosperity.
“There must be a deliberate policy by the FGN to power our industry for economic prosperity. You can power access through Mini-Grids, but you can’t power your economy to prosperity,” he stated.
He emphasized the need for the government to channel part of the $2 billion REA fund toward end-to-end solutions that can strengthen electricity supply to Nigeria’s industrial clusters, stimulate productivity, and create jobs.
Reflecting on commission’s journey over the past two decades, Oseni noted that it had successfully overseen the privatisation and unbundling of the formerly state-owned monopoly, while developing key regulatory instruments to improve reliability, market governance, and consumer protection.
He said relative to 20 years ago, not less than 30 per cent of the electricity consumers have experienced significant improvement in their electricity services.
But through effective regulation, he said, the Commission has saved the Federal Government several trillion of naira in subsidies, thereby contributing to the improved fiscal position of the Federal Government.
Oseni, however, pointed out that Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure still requires substantial investment, noting that current fiscal realities make it impossible for the government alone to meet this funding need.
He, therefore, called for a robust regulatory framework to attract private capital into the sector, stressing that such measures would ensure long-term stability, efficiency, and sustainability of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
