Only 5.7% of Nigeria’s 230 million people have electricity: TCN

Only 13 million Nigerians are officially known to have electricity in Nigeria, the government’s power transmission company says.

The figure represents only 5.7% of the total estimated 230 million population of the country and shows energy poverty remains rampant in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest market.

The figure was given by the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s general manager for regulation and compliance, Ali Bukar Ahmad. He spoke on Thursday at the Nigerian Institute of Physics (NIP) webinar Series 2.0, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

The webinar series had the title: “Policy, Regulatory and Technical Constraints in Achieving Energy Security in Nigeria: The Way Forward”.

Energy poor

Mr Ahmad said Nigeria remains energy poor and deficient of energy security.

He said just about half of those registered to have electricity are metred, translating to 2.52 percent of the total population. Also, about 60 percent of metered customers bypass their meters and contribute to the nation’s energy poverty, he said.

“For a country to be truly independent politically and economically in the 21st century, is to have energy sovereignty and energy independence, and for the sovereignty and independence to be secured at all times and to be backed by the relevant geopolitics,” he said.

“In Nigeria, we have four types of energy poverty; the unserved, the underserved, the poor quality of supply and the served.

“Energy security in turn is the bedrock for the sustainable development and the attainment of it should leave no one, no citizen behind,” he said.

Mr Ahmad said energy vulnerability in Nigeria includes but is not limited to lack of diversity in energy sources – predominantly reliance on gas, shortfalls in production capacity, and unreliable and expensive gas supply.

He said crumbling and inefficient infrastructure, lack of transparency and accountability in energy provision, vandalism, and insufficient political and financial wherewithal to address the challenges, are also indicators of energy vulnerability.