Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, has admitted the failure of power reforms in the country.
According to Nebo, up to 30 million Nigerians are living in total darkness. He therefore faulted existing surveys which put the percentage of Nigerians without electricity at 50 per cent.
Nebo made the disclosure at the General Electric (GE) Distributed Power launch in Lagos, on Tuesday, stressing that about 60 percent of Nigerians were without electricity, while 30 million households were actually in darkness.
“There are figures which put Nigerians without electricity at 50 per cent but I say the figure is much more than that and I say those not connected to the grid is up to 60 per cent.”
He, however, said the new approach of distributed power which the GE is driving in partnership with the Federal Government, would help in facilitating the realisation of the nation’s power sector reform.
He further argued that mega generation plants would not provide the solution to Nigeria’s energy crisis, and that it was the reason the government is opting for embedded power to clusters across the country.
The minister observed that small scale industries, community-based agro-industries as well as institutions across community levels were out of electricity.
“The Federal Government is deeply worried that the current power situation is not capable of propelling industrialisation and grow the economy and it is therefore looking at other opportunities that will create power alternatives to communities.
“To quickly reach the identified communities, institutions and industrial clusters, government is providing the necessary support to the GE on the distributed power application option,” he said.
