Nigerians received lowest electricity supply in May — Report

Power generation in Nigeria fell to a record low in May, with households experiencing an average daily cumulative supply at 5.6 hours, a new report by NOIPolls has revealed.

The report, which was released on Wednesday, noted that Nigerians experienced continuous decline in power supply between January and June 2016.

It said the downward trend had been blamed on the degree of destruction on infrastructure and gas pipelines vandalism that had taken place through the years, as well as poor maintenance and upgrade of power installations across the country.

According to the poll, the average daily cumulative hours of power supply experienced in Nigerian households nationwide in January stood at 10.5 hours, representing the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply during the six months in view.

It said, “Following a relatively high record in January at 60 per cent improvement, there was a consistent decline in power supply to households through June 2016, with the highest dip recorded in February at 21 points from January.

“These findings are reflections of the challenges faced by the power sector; one of which is the issue of vandalism of oil and gas installations. For instance, the vandalism, which occurred in the Escravos area of Delta State, resulted in a drop in power generation from about 3,600 megawatts to 2,500 MW, translating into a loss of 900MW in May 2016.”

The report said although several efforts were being made by the government to improve on power supply in the country such as the recent inauguration of four gas power stations, “it is however clear that these efforts have yet to translate into actual power improvement to impact the lives of Nigerians.”

It said the reform efforts could take a long gestation period from conceptualisation to implementation.

The report said, “Also, in an effort to improve the state of electricity supply in Nigeria, the present administration has stated that all ongoing power projects must be completed within the next three years.

NOIPoll said analysis of results revealed that the average improvement in supply nationwide during the first quarter of 2016 stood at 44 per cent, while it averaged 17 per cent in the second quarter.

It said results showed that the nationwide average daily cumulative power supply for the second quarter stood at about six hours, up from about nine hours in the first quarter.

Punch