Usman Mohammed, a former managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says repeated policy failures, poor leadership appointments and corruption are at the heart of the country’s unreliable electricity supply.
Key takeaways
- Mohammed made the comments during a recent conversation with Oseni Rufai on the Nevon Podcast.
- He said successive governments had pursued the wrong approach instead of correcting earlier errors.
- The former TCN chief argued that the power sector had often been placed in the hands of people without the necessary competence.
- He said efforts by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration ultimately failed to resolve the sector’s weaknesses.
- Nigeria has continued to produce roughly 3,000 to 6,000 megawatts for a population estimated at 250 million.
Policy failures and corruption
Mohammed said Nigeria’s electricity problem had endured because the federal government repeatedly made poor decisions without changing course. He identified corruption as another factor that had prevented lasting improvements in power delivery.
He also criticised the way projects and reforms were undertaken, saying authorities frequently moved ahead without carrying out sufficient research or planning. In his assessment, the appointment of unqualified officials to manage the industry had contributed directly to repeated failures.
Mohammed said the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo had approached the power crisis with positive intentions, but its efforts were eventually blocked and did not produce a lasting solution.
Long-running supply shortfall
He said the sector’s unresolved problems reflected a cycle in which mistakes were repeated rather than corrected. Nigeria’s electricity crisis has continued for more than 10 years since the industry was privatised.
Despite the privatisation, available generation remains between 3,000MW and 6,000MW, serving an estimated population of 250 million. The gap between supply and demand continues to constrain households, businesses and wider economic activity.
