Stakeholders in the Power Sector have called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency for total overhauling of generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the country.

They made the call in Abuja at the Third edition of Civil Society Roundtable discussion with Stakeholders in the Power sector .

The stakeholders argued that the Nation could not develop without the Power sector; hence the urgent need for state of emergency.


Addressing the stakeholders, the president of the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG), comrade Ogakwu Dominic Ogakwu said despite the investment of over $16 billion spent by previous administrations, Nigeria could only generate 5000 megawatts of electricity as against the current capacity of over 11,000 megawatts needed by consumers.


Comrade Ogakwu said: “Even more worrisome is our inability to equitably distribute our generated capacity while faced with a stark reality that productivity and industrialization of any nation is hinged on Power supply.”


He explained that the roundabout was to proffer solutions to the “critical challenges” of the power sector in the short term and suggest what could sustain the power supply in the long run.


“The responsibility to get things right should not just rest on the regulator or electricity distribution companies alone, but civil society and electricity consumers must join hands to demand and direct the trajectory for improving service delivery as constitutionally required,” he advised


Declaring the event open, The Minister of power, Abubakar Aliyu revealed that government had initiated a series of reforms, including the vision 30-2030 and the strong desire to complete all the power projects across the country.


Represented by the director, Reform Coordination and service improvement in the Ministry, Titilayo Agbeyo, the Minister said government would continue to play it’s role in providing the enabling environment for stakeholders and investors.


Highpoints of the Roundtable included presentation of power sector documentary to the Stakeholders and certificate of performance to the Minister of power.


The event, which brought together hundreds of participants from across the country, had as its theme “Boosting Nigeria’s power sector performance for overall socio-economic development of the nation”.