By Danjuma Amodu
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar says the electricity reforms being rolled out by President Bola Tinubu are based on the power sector blueprint his team drafted 21 years ago under Obasanjo, even as he questioned the fate of over $16 billion reportedly invested in the sector with little result to show.
Atiku, who chaired the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) between 1999 and 2007, said the current administration’s push to liberalise the electricity market, decentralise power generation and expand state participation mirrors reforms initiated under his supervision.
He argued that the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act of 2005 laid the legal foundation for dismantling the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), establishing the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), unbundling generation and distribution companies, and opening the sector to private investment.
Atiku maintained that recent constitutional amendments allowing states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity independently only deepen reforms that began during the Obasanjo administration.
However, the former vice president questioned why Nigeria continues to struggle with inadequate electricity supply despite huge public investments.
“What then happened to the over $16 billion reportedly invested in the power sector if, after more than two decades, government is still implementing the same reform blueprint?” he asked.
The remark revives the long-running controversy over the approximately $16 billion reportedly spent on power projects during the Obasanjo administration.
The issue first drew national attention in 2008 when former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua questioned the expenditure against Nigeria’s poor electricity output. The National Assembly later investigated contracts awarded under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), transmission upgrades and other initiatives, but no official inquiry conclusively established that the entire amount was misappropriated.
Former President Obasanjo has consistently rejected claims that the funds were stolen or wasted. He insists the money went into generation plants, gas infrastructure, transmission facilities and other long-term projects, many of which were later abandoned, delayed or poorly managed by subsequent governments. He has also said the $16 billion figure is often quoted without proper context.
Analysts note that Nigeria’s power crisis has persisted due to uneven implementation of reforms and structural challenges including inadequate gas supply, weak transmission infrastructure, liquidity problems in the power market, electricity theft, and poor revenue collection.
President Tinubu’s administration has accelerated restructuring following the Electricity Act 2023, which empowers states to establish independent electricity markets and regulatory agencies. Several states have since set up their own electricity commissions and are courting private investment.
Atiku’s comments are expected to rekindle debate over both the origins of Nigeria’s power sector reforms and accountability for decades of investment in an industry that still delivers less than 6,000 megawatts of electricity to a population of over 230 million.
