- Faulty Constitution to Blame for Nigeria’s Power Woes, Says Attah
- Former Governor Hails Electricity Act 2023 as a Path to Progress
Former Akwa Ibom State Governor Obong Victor Attah has accused ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of blocking his efforts to provide electricity directly to the people of Akwa Ibom, despite building a 191-megawatt power station with state funds. Attah disclosed this during an appearance on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a Channels Television program on Friday.
Attah, who served as governor from 1999 to 2007, said Obasanjo insisted the electricity generated in Akwa Ibom must be added to the national grid rather than distributed locally.
“I built a power station to give Akwa Ibom constant electricity. The president commissioned it but later enacted a law that prevented states from distributing power. Instead, everything had to go into the inefficient national grid that frequently collapses,” Attah lamented.
He decried Nigeria’s current constitution, describing it as a relic of military rule that undermines true federalism. “This constitution is authoritarian. It was imposed by the military. If we had a federal system, states could generate and distribute their power independently, regardless of political affiliations,” he stated.
Attah applauded the Electricity Act 2023, which now allows states to generate and distribute electricity independently. He noted that Governor Umo Eno is working toward establishing the Akwa Ibom Power Company to fulfill the state’s energy needs.
Reflecting on the broader implications, Attah said decentralizing power generation and distribution is critical for Nigeria’s development. “Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently called for decentralization in the energy sector, something I tried to achieve years ago but was stopped by a flawed federal arrangement,” he said.
Nigeria’s power sector has long been plagued by inefficiencies, policy inconsistencies, and underinvestment. The privatisation of the electricity sector has failed to address these challenges, leaving Africa’s most populous nation with an unreliable power supply.
In 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an electricity price hike, with Band A customers now paying about N250 per unit. States like Enugu, Ekiti, Lagos, and others have since established their electricity regulatory commissions, a move experts say will boost industrialisation and productivity.
