Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has criticized Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) for undermining efforts to reform the power sector, warning that sweeping changes are imminent to protect recent progress.
Speaking at a two-day retreat organized by the Senate Committee on Power, Adelabu said the persistent inefficiency of the DisCos is jeopardizing gains in electricity generation and transmission.
“Our biggest challenge remains the distribution end. No matter the progress in generation, it means nothing if the DisCos can’t deliver power to the people,” he stated, via a release from his media adviser, Bolaji Tunji.
Adelabu accused the DisCos of failing to upgrade infrastructure or secure technical partnerships, as envisioned during the 2003 privatization of the sector.
“Many showcased foreign partners at the outset, but within three months, they vanished. Instead of investing in infrastructure, they took loans to acquire assets and now use revenue to repay those loans,” he said.
Despite recent tariff adjustments that increased sector revenue from ₦1 trillion in 2023 to ₦1.7 trillion in 2024, Adelabu lamented that the performance of DisCos remains poor. He pointed to dismal remittance figures—particularly in the North—as evidence.
“In Q4 2024, northern DisCos remitted just ₦124.4 billion out of ₦408.86 billion—only 30 percent. Abuja DisCo alone contributed 85 percent of that remittance,” he revealed.
While southern DisCos fared slightly better with a 67 percent remittance rate, Adelabu noted that 70 percent of those payments came from Lagos-based DisCos. “Outside major cities, infrastructure is deteriorating due to neglect and chronic underinvestment,” he said.
The Minister also addressed the long-standing metering deficit, describing it as a major source of consumer dissatisfaction and revenue loss. He said that under the ₦700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative and a World Bank-supported program, 75,000 meters were installed in April 2024, with 200,000 more expected in May.
“Closing the metering gap is essential to ensure fair billing, but we’re not there yet. Chronic underinvestment and operational inefficiencies continue to hold us back,” he stated.
Adelabu further disclosed that the federal government is grappling with a ₦4 trillion subsidy backlog to power generation companies, including ₦1.94 trillion allocated in the 2024 budget. He warned that the government faces monthly shortfalls of ₦200 billion, making the current tariff regime unsustainable.
To address these issues, Adelabu announced plans to restructure underperforming DisCos and strictly enforce performance benchmarks.
“Without fresh capital injection into the distribution segment, our recent milestone of 6,003MW generation in March 2025 and the installation of 61 new transformers this year will not translate into stable electricity supply for households,” he cautioned.
He also unveiled plans to expand power generation in the North, including the Makurdi hydropower project, expected to deliver 1,000MW, and the revival of the 215MW Kaduna thermal plant, now 87 percent complete.
In Katsina, he noted that the state government is pursuing a public-private partnership to revive the dormant 10MW wind farm.
“We must get tough with the DisCos. They can’t continue to derail our progress. Without fixing distribution, we will remain stuck,” Adelabu declared
