The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has blamed Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges on the sale of public enterprises by successive governments since 1999 under the guise of privatisation.

Speaking in an interview with journalists, Adebayo described the policy as “a fundamental error,” arguing that rather than selling government-owned enterprises, the state should have liberalised sectors to encourage competition and innovation.

“The government should have privatised the industry or the sector, not the enterprises. Privatisation of government enterprises is wrong. What you need is to open the sector; that’s all,” he said.

He particularly faulted the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999–2007) for selling critical national assets such as the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Nigeria Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON), and Nigerian Hotels Limited.

According to him, the policy led to the collapse of government training institutions and job opportunities for young Nigerians, while worsening infrastructure deficits across the country.

“In those days, if you finished school, you could join NEPA and they would train you. Many great engineers today are products of NEPA. But we destroyed the public works departments. Now, even for small projects like 10km roads, states hire foreign contractors.

“I have more equipment in my compound than the entire Ministry of Works in Akure, Ondo State. So, what have we really gained from privatisation?” he asked.

Adebayo argued that the privatisation of NITEL had not resolved Nigeria’s telecommunication challenges, noting that private telecom companies still depend on NITEL infrastructure to operate efficiently.

“We still have telecom problems because most of the carriers rely on NITEL’s exchanges and infrastructure. The private sector won’t invest in the national broadband backbone because it’s not profitable for them,” he said.

He also criticised the privatisation of the power sector, saying many electricity consumers now fund infrastructure that should have been government-provided.

“People are now generating their own power, yet many of these so-called investors depend on consumers to buy transformers and fix lines,” he added.

Adebayo said the SDP would reverse the negative impact of privatisation by rebuilding public institutions and training a new generation of skilled Nigerians to manage strategic industries.

“Our idea is to reconstitute and raise new Nigerians who will man these enterprises and grow industries out of them,” he stated.