President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the constitutional amendment allowing states in the country to licence, generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.
This was made known in a tweet by the presidential media spokesperson, Tolu Ogunlesi, on Friday.
He tweeted, “President #MBuhari has signed 16 constitution amendment bills into law. By this signing, State Houses of Assembly & judiciaries now have constitutionally guaranteed financial independence, while railways have moved from Exclusive Legislative List to the concurrent list.
“Another landmark change: By virtue of the presidential assent, Nigerian states can now generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid. (This) wasn’t allowed pre-amendment. This is genuine, realistic restructuring- through the constitution.”
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that the electricity sector in Nigeria generates, transmits and distributes megawatts(MW) of electric power that is significantly less than what is needed to meet basic household and industrial needs.
Nigeria has twenty-three (23) power generating plants connected to the national grid with the capacity to generate 11,165.4 MW of electricity. These plants are managed by generation companies (GenCos), independent power providers, and Niger Delta Holding Company.
In 2012, the industry labored to distribute 5,000 MW, very much less than the 40,000 MW needed to sustain the basic needs of the population.
This deficit is also exacerbated by unannounced load shedding, partial and total system collapse and power failure.
To meet demand, many households and businesses resort to purchasing generating sets to power their properties, this source of energy provided 6,000 MW in 2008.
Nigeria has a chronic electricity shortage that has affected the country for many years. In 2022, its power grid collapsed twice during one week.