Ben Bruce Urges Tinubu to Break Up Nigeria’s Power Monopoly
Former Senator 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.
In an open letter to the President titled “Start the Dance on Electricity: The Privatisation Failed. The Owners Are Billing Darkness,” Murray-Bruce said Nigeria’s power crisis had reached a point where the government must abandon the existing model and decentralise electricity generation and distribution.
He cited figures from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which showed that out of 13,625 megawatts of installed generation capacity, only 4,286MW was available for dispatch in April.
Murray-Bruce also referenced the August 22 grid collapse, when available generation reportedly fell to 1,132MW from more than 4,000MW earlier in the day, with several generating stations producing no power.
He blamed the 2013 privatisation for transferring electricity assets to investors without the financial capacity required to properly operate and expand them.
According to him, Nigeria should have attracted multinational operators with the technical expertise and financial strength to invest heavily in the power infrastructure.
The former senator also criticised the distribution companies over metering, noting that millions of electricity customers remain unmetered despite the DisCos collecting hundreds of billions of naira in revenue.
“An industry that cannot generate power has discovered it can still generate revenue by billing darkness,” he said.
Murray-Bruce, however, acknowledged that generating companies were owed significant amounts of money, but argued that both GenCos and DisCos must bear responsibility for the sector’s failures rather than continually relying on government intervention.
He proposed a decentralised electricity model in which estates, communities and local areas could secure financing to develop their own metered solar power systems, with state governments guaranteeing loans.
He further suggested that state governments should take responsibility for powering streetlights, schools, primary healthcare centres and other state facilities, while the Federal Government concentrates on federal institutions and infrastructure.
Murray-Bruce said the Electricity Act 2023 already provides the legal framework for states to regulate their electricity markets, noting that several states have assumed regulatory control.
He cited the Aba power model operated by Geometric Power as evidence that a privately managed, locally focused electricity system could continue supplying power even when the national grid fails.
He therefore urged President Tinubu to use his position to reset the power sector, insisting that Nigeria was already spending billions of dollars annually dealing with unreliable electricity and generator dependence.
Murray-Bruce concluded by expressing confidence that a decentralised power model could provide electricity to a significant majority of Nigerians within four years if decisively implemented.
