Former lawmaker and public commentator Ben Murray-Bruce has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fundamentally overhaul Nigeria’s electricity sector, arguing that the 2013 privatisation of the power industry has failed to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerians.
In an open letter titled “Start the Dance on Electricity: The Privatisation Failed. The Owners Are Billing Darkness,” Murray-Bruce said Nigeria must abandon what he described as the “national pretence” surrounding the power sector and adopt a decentralised electricity model driven by states, communities and private investment.
He cited figures attributed to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) showing that Nigeria had 13,625 megawatts of installed generation capacity but only 4,286MW available for dispatch as of April.
According to him, only 10 of the country’s 28 generating plants accounted for about 81 per cent of total generation, highlighting what he described as the fragility of the national power system.
Murray-Bruce also pointed to the sharp fall in grid generation on August 22, when available generation reportedly dropped from more than 4,000MW during the afternoon to about 1,132MW at 8:30pm, with several generating stations producing no electricity.
“That is not an industry, Your Excellency. That is a rumour of an industry,” he wrote.
‘Privatisation was a transfer of custody’
The former senator argued that the 2013 power-sector privatisation was fundamentally flawed because the investors who acquired the generating and distribution companies lacked the financial capacity required to transform the sector.
He contended that owning electricity infrastructure and having the financial strength to continuously invest in it were two different things, arguing that Nigeria should have attracted large multinational utility companies with deeper technical and financial capacity.
Murray-Bruce further cited the debts accumulated across the electricity value chain, including claims by generating companies that they are owed more than ₦7 trillion.
He also referenced the Federal Government’s reported ₦4 trillion bond programme aimed at addressing liabilities in the sector, arguing that billions of dollars in public resources have been committed to electricity without producing commensurate improvements in supply.
DisCos accused of ‘billing darkness’
The former lawmaker reserved some of his strongest criticism for electricity distribution companies.
He cited figures indicating that about 5.1 million of Nigeria’s 12.31 million active electricity customers remained unmetered as of February, meaning roughly 41 per cent of customers were still without meters.
He highlighted particularly low metering rates in several distribution territories, including Yola, Jos, Kano and Kaduna, while noting that the Ibadan electricity distribution network also had a substantial number of unmetered customers.
At the same time, he said the DisCos collected approximately ₦801.16 billion between January and April, describing estimated billing as an unacceptable burden on consumers.
“A meter is a machine that tells the truth. An estimated bill is a machine that does not,” Murray-Bruce stated.
He acknowledged that generating companies were owed money but argued that the private operators must also accept responsibility for operating in an electricity market that has remained financially distressed.
Proposes community-owned power systems
Rather than relying exclusively on the national grid, Murray-Bruce proposed a decentralised model in which communities, estates and local businesses could develop their own electricity systems.
Using Dolphin Estate in Lagos as an example, he proposed that a community of about 5,000 families could obtain a bank loan to build a metered solar power system capable of supplying the estate.
Under his proposal, state governments would guarantee such loans, while residents would pay the community-owned electricity company based on a regulated tariff.
He argued that the model could be replicated across estates, communities and local government areas, creating a new class of Nigerian energy entrepreneurs.
States urged to take responsibility
Murray-Bruce also called for greater responsibility from state governments following the passage of the Electricity Act 2023, which opened the way for states to regulate electricity markets within their territories.
He argued that state governments should increasingly deploy solar power for streetlights, police stations, primary healthcare centres, schools and other state institutions.
The Federal Government, he said, should concentrate on federal institutions and infrastructure while the Minister of Power functions primarily as a coordinator within Nigeria’s federal electricity framework.
‘Nigeria is already paying for electricity’
According to Murray-Bruce, Nigeria’s electricity crisis is not simply a shortage-of-money problem.
He cited estimates that unreliable electricity costs the Nigerian economy billions of dollars annually, while households and businesses spend heavily on petrol and diesel generators.
He argued that Nigerians are therefore already paying for electricity—but through an inefficient system involving generators, fuel costs, outages and unreliable public supply.
Aba cited as proof of alternative model
Murray-Bruce pointed to Aba, where Geometric Power operates an integrated electricity system, as evidence that alternative models can work.
He argued that when the national grid experienced a complete collapse earlier in the year, Aba’s electricity system continued operating, demonstrating, in his view, the potential of geographically decentralised electricity networks.
‘What is missing is nerve’
The former lawmaker ultimately challenged President Tinubu to use the legal framework created by the 2023 Electricity Act to accelerate decentralisation and private investment in power generation and distribution.
He maintained that the country does not necessarily need another policy summit or another round of promises but a fundamental restructuring of the way electricity is generated, distributed and paid for.
“What is missing is not law. It is nerve,” he wrote.
Murray-Bruce concluded by urging Nigerians to demand greater accountability from their state governments and local authorities, arguing that electricity responsibilities are no longer exclusively concentrated in Abuja.
He challenged the Federal Government, governors, DisCos and GenCos to accept responsibility for their respective roles in the sector and declared that, with the right reforms, 70 per cent of Nigeria could have reliable electricity within four years.
His intervention adds to the growing debate over whether Nigeria’s electricity crisis can be solved through continued investment in the existing national grid or whether the country should move decisively towards decentralised, state-based and community-owned power systems.
