Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria have apologised to consumers over persistent power shortages across the country, acknowledging the hardship caused by weeks of prolonged blackouts.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, tendered the apology on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“I’d like to first of all start by apologising to Nigerians. Apology is needed; it is essential because Nigerians have been taken through this problem over the past few weeks,” he said.
Oduntan also criticised what he described as a return to the blame game among operators in the electricity sector, warning that the disagreements could prevent stakeholders from addressing the causes of the supply crisis.
He recalled that between 2016 and 2019, distribution companies blamed the Transmission Company of Nigeria, transmission operators blamed generation companies, while generation companies pointed to gas suppliers and payment challenges.
“Our major problem is that we have started that very wrong route that we went through between 2016 and 2019. What is that? Blame game,” he said.
Oduntan also questioned conflicting explanations from the Nigerian Independent System Operator and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited over the causes of the shortages.
He said NISO had attributed the supply challenges partly to low water levels and inadequate gas supply, while the NNPC subsequently issued a statement indicating that gas was available.
However, the ANED chief said the NNPC needed to clarify whether outstanding payments were affecting gas deliveries to power generation companies.
“From the NNPC statement, it is very clear that they came to tell us half-truths. What I would have expected NNPC to do is to go ahead and talk to us whether there are payment issues. We need to know whether gas was paid for and delivered, who did, who didn’t,” he said.
He urged the Minister of Power to bring the relevant stakeholders together to establish the actual causes of the shortages and coordinate a response.
Oduntan said the continued exchanges among gas suppliers, the NNPC, the Transmission Company of Nigeria and NISO required stronger leadership from the ministry.
The apology comes amid complaints from households and businesses over inadequate electricity supply in recent weeks.
The situation has also renewed concerns about the effectiveness of the Band A, B and C electricity tariff classifications, which link customer charges to specified levels of daily power supply.
Customers on Band A, who are entitled to a minimum of 20 hours of electricity daily, have also complained about inadequate supply.
The outages have drawn criticism from public figures, including veteran actress Kate Henshaw, who questioned the difficulty of accessing reliable electricity and said households had effectively become “mini-factories” because of the need to generate their own power.
Content creator Cute Abiola also appealed to President Bola Tinubu in a video, citing the impact of the heat and the difficulties Nigerians face in accessing alternative power sources.
The cost of petrol and diesel has added to the burden on households and businesses that depend on generators, while the cost of solar panels, batteries and inverters remains beyond the reach of many.
The power crisis has also brought renewed attention to Tinubu’s 2023 campaign promise to improve electricity supply and end estimated billing.
During a meeting with members of the Organised Private Sector in Lagos, the president had pledged that Nigerians would have electricity and would no longer pay estimated bills.
“Whichever way, by all means necessary, you will have electricity, and you will not pay for estimated bills anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept,” he said.
He also urged Nigerians not to re-elect him if he failed to fulfil the promise without providing adequate reasons.
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