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Power supply hasn’t improved with privatisation – Survey

By BusinessNews Staff on April 16, 2014

A survey on power supply situation in the country released by NOI Polls, an indigenous survey agency, has revealed that 63 per cent of Nigerians have experienced no improvement in electricity supply since the privatisation of the sector.

Specifically, the survey stated that in the first quarter of this year, 43 per cent of Nigerians experienced worsened electricity supply, while 20 per cent saw no difference at all in the privatised power sector when compared to when it was run by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

The power sector was officially privatised on November 1, 2013 when the unbundled successor companies of the PHCN were physically handed over to private investors by the President at a ceremony in Abuja.

A copy of the survey report, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that six out of 10 Nigerian households received less than five hours of power supply daily in the first quarter.

It stated, “Power sector poll results for the first quarter of 2014 have revealed that an average of 63 per cent of Nigerians experienced no improvement in their power supply, with 43 per cent experiencing a worsened state and 20 per cent having no difference at all.

“More findings revealed that an average of 63 per cent received less than five hours of continuous power supply daily with the majority (45 per cent) receiving between one and four hours of continuous power daily, and 18 per cent receiving zero hour of power supply.

“To this effect, an average of 79 per cent of Nigerians use alternative sources to augment their power supply, and of this group, majority (72 per cent) reported they experienced an increase in their spending on these alternative sources.”

The agency said it also observed a decline in power supply to households over the quarter as those that experienced any improvement fell from 44 per cent in January to 37 per cent in March.

The power supply situation in the country has gone from bad to worse since the privatisation of the sector.

Power investors and government agencies have blamed the epileptic electricity supply on gas constraints, dilapidated equipment and poor human capacity.

The Federal Government had said on several occasions that the gas pipelines were being sabotaged and that this had impacted severely on supply of electricity despite the privatisation of the sector.

According to NOI Polls, the aim of the survey is to explore the perception of Nigerians towards the power sector reforms, the amount of power supply received daily and expenditure on alternative sources of power.

[Punch]

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