Forum asks FG to revoke licences of underperforming DisCos

A group, the Nigeria Youth Forum (NYF) has called on the Federal Government to revoke the licences of underperforming electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and invite credible investors with the technical capacity and financial credibility to rescue the country’s ailing power sector.

While expressing deep concern over the power sector’s dismal output, the group said the privatisation model has failed to deliver value for money to the Nigerian populace.

National President of NYF, Comrade Toriah Olajide Filani, in a statement on Friday, noted that the total electricity supplied to Nigeria’s population of over 200 million people is significantly lower than the power supply allocated to a single international airport in Europe.

According to him, licences should be subjected to periodic reviews, and any operator found wanting should be replaced by more competent and transparent investors.
Comparing the Amsterdam International Airport with Nigeria, Filani said the power available at the airport alone surpasses Nigeria’s entire national grid output.

“This reflects poorly on our leadership and infrastructure planning. When you also look at Jeddah International Airport and compare it to the Nigerian situation, you cannot help but feel disheartened. Nigeria claims to be the giant of Africa, yet its power generation capacity tells a different story”, he said.

He further stated that although Nigeria currently generates about 7,000 megawatts of electricity, only about 5,000 megawatts can be distributed due to obsolete infrastructure and the failure of DisCos to invest in essential distribution materials.

This bottleneck, according to the Forum, continues to cripple the nation’s power delivery system and frustrates economic growth.

The forum maintained that if the country fails to address the crisis in the power sector now, it might miss its last chance to salvage the situation, adding that continuous self-deception will only deepen the suffering of Nigerians under a system that is no longer sustainable.

“The time for power sector reform is now or never. We cannot continue to deceive ourselves. If we can’t fix electricity now under the new Electricity Act and investment roadmap, then we may never get it right again”.

The group recommended a strategic and solution-driven approach to resolving the crisis, stressing the need for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to enforce a performance-based regulatory framework that holds DisCos accountable to clear benchmarks in customer service, infrastructure investment, and energy distribution efficiency.

The group also proposed the creation of a DisCo Recovery Task Force, mandated to audit past investments and operational records of distribution companies since privatization.

This task force, it said, would help identify failing operators and open the door for new players with stronger technical and financial capacity.

The forum called on the federal government to empower state governments to drive subnational electricity markets by establishing a Subnational Power Autonomy Acceleration Fund, saying it would enable states to develop localized power solutions using the legal backing of the new Electricity Act.