• Poor power supply impedes access to justice – Olawuyi

Nigeria has secured over $1.4 billion in financing over the past 12 months to strengthen electricity transmission to homes and industries, even as the country recorded 151 new cases of power infrastructure vandalism, the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Dr Sule Abdulaziz, has said.

He disclosed that the country’s wheeling capacity has improved to 8,700MW and the transmission network improved to over 8,500MVA capacity as the agency now prioritises the addition of transformers, 330KV network upgrades and asset rehabilitation following the unbundling of the system and market operations into NISO.

This comes as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, charged lawyers to be more concerned about power sector reforms, saying that the lack of electricity affects not only households and businesses but also the administration of justice.

Speaking at the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Olawuyi said that poor electricity supply was undermining access to justice, as the courts increasingly depend on electricity to power the computers, digital recording systems and electronic case-file management.

Noting that blackouts could delay court proceedings and judicial operations, he stated that the estimated 27.9 million Nigerian households without access to electricity highlight the scale of the challenge.

Therefore, he expressed the need for policymakers to focus on creating conditions that would give investors the confidence to commit funds to the power sector, saying that predictable and enforceable power purchase agreements are critical to attracting investment.

On his part, Abdulaziz, who spoke at a media workshop yesterday in Keffi, Nasarawa State, said that insecurity and the increasing rate of destruction of power infrastructure remained a major threat to electricity supply in the country and could hamper energy loan repayment efforts.

Represented by the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider (TSP), Oluwagbenga Ajiboye, the TCN chief expressed concern over electricity vandalism and right-of-way issues, which he said have stalled some projects for over seven years.

He disclosed that the government has been deploying blended financing, including loans and grants from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

According to him, “the investment required in the power sector is enormous, and the government cannot fund everything alone. That is why we are partnering with institutions such as the World Bank and other development partners.”

“We are looking at financing models that will allow these investments to be recovered sustainably, so that investors can get their money back while the transmission network continues to expand.”

He noted that a large portion of the network still required rehabilitation, with sustained investment needed to close the infrastructure gap amidst continuous demand growth.

Nevertheless, he lamented that while some of the loans were being serviced, the liquidity crisis in the sector and the burden of vandalism have limited the company’s capacity. He alleged poor police investigation of power infrastructure vandalism, with most of the cases classified as theft and most of the perpetrators released.

According to him, “the police only charge suspects for theft and the court will release them by the following day. There are no consequences for vandalism of transmission towers and lines; that is why the act continues.”

Meanwhile, Olawuyi has called for measures to de-risk investments, strengthen power infrastructure and address insecurity, which he said could discourage investors from committing capital to the sector.

Also, the Commissioner, Legal, Licensing and Compliance of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dafe Akpeneye, disclosed that a lawsuit filed by a lawyer, identified as Toluwani Adebiyi, against the commission in 2016 over a tariff review stalled reforms in the power sector for about four years.

He said the legal setback contributed to a huge revenue shortfall in the electricity market, making it difficult for distribution companies (DisCos) to meet their financial obligations and sustain investment.