Power poll results released by NOIPolls Limited for the second quarter of 2015 have revealed that Nigerians have rarely seen improvement in power supply even in the face of power reformation programmes; as only an average of 36.4 percent of Nigerian households attested to seeing improvement in power supply over a 30 month period.
This finding is in no doubt influenced by the challenges faced from the generation, transmission and distribution end of the power sector.
More findings revealed that the power sector has been characterized by an erratic supply of power as there has been no clear consistency in the state of power over this period, with months of slight improvements as well as most often, months with no visible improvement.
For instance there has been a consistent decline in the proportion of Nigerians who saw improvement from January 2015 (32percent) to May 2015 (17 percent); however an upward movement was recorded in June 2015, as 44 percent of Nigerians attested to seeing improvement in power supply; thus representing a significant increase of 27-points from May to June 2015.
Moreover, nationwide quarterly averages revealed that Q2 2015 recorded the worst power rating, while Q3 of 2014 recorded the best power rating so far at 45 percent.
In a general view of power tracking by geo-political zones over a 30 month period, the larger proportion of Nigerian households across all geopolitical zones have generally seen no improvement in power supply.
In line with this, the South-West zone recorded the lowest overall average power improvement rating at 32 percent over the period in view, thus indicating that this zone is the worst hit zone in terms of poor power supply.
On the other hand, the South-East zone seemed to have enjoyed relatively the best power supply with an overall average of 41 percent.
And, while NOIPolls continues to provide valuable data on the power sector from the consumer end through its ‘Monthly Power Tracking’, it becomes more critical for all other stakeholders to also conduct consistent step by step evaluations of strategies, transformation and intervention programmes developed to revive the power sector; especially from the generation and transmission end in order to identify gaps, while developing long term strategies that will transform the entire power sector.
Giving a background to the power situation in the country, NOIPolls Limited said that going as far back as 1999, Nigeria had 79 generation units out of which only 19 were operational and the average daily generation and distribution was down to 1,750 MW.
No new electric power infrastructure was constructed between 1989 – 1999, during that ten year period there was a lack of development which further aided in pushing the sector into the abyss of rot and decay.
The Federal Government in 2005 embarked on a sector reform through privatization to ensure adequate and equitable generation and distribution of electricity while also setting up a commission to serve as the regulatory body overseeing the sector.
This was done to ensure fair pricing and sufficient generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across board.
Sadly despite the successful unbundling of NEPA and the sale of its assets to private investors as generating, transmissions and distribution companies, the situation of power keeps retrogressing as Nigerians are still experiencing major power black outs with an average maximum of 7.1 hours per day
With the aim of monitoring the progress made so far in the power sector reforms in Nigeria, NOIPolls introduced the Power Polls in 2013 to explore the perception of Nigerians towards the power sector reforms.
The polls were conducted monthly to explore the amount of power supply received daily and expenditure on power supply, as well as the state of power supply to households and its effect to consumers especially in the use of alternative sources of power and it financial implications.
In conducting the power polls, respondents were asked 5 specific questions every month; one of these questions would be discussed in this release.
The result presented is a 30-Month tracking of power supply to households from the consumer end. For full report, please contact NOIPolls on enquiries@noi-polls.com
Key Findings
Month on Month Consumers’ Description of the State of Power Supply to Their Households
For every month respondents were asked to rate the current state of power supply to their households.
This question is critical in assessing the state of the Nigerian power sector from the consumer end, even in the face of reformation in the Nigerian power sector.
Findings revealed that overall Nigerians have rarely seen improvement in power supply as only an average of 36.4 percent attested to seeing improvement in power supply over a 30-month period.
This figure represents only about one third of the entire adult population who have seen improvement.
A closer view at the month on month record of the state of power within the period in view, revealed an erratic situation in the supply of power as there has been no clear consistency in the state of power to households.
For instance just when more than half celebrated seeing improvements in August (51 percent) and September (52 percent) 2014 (which also represented the best power rating since January 2013), the reverse was the case for the proceeding month (October 2014; 36 percent) with a huge dip of 16-points in the proportion of households that saw improvement in October 2014.
Similarly, there has been a consistent decline in the proportion of Nigerians who saw improvement from January to May 2015; although in June 2015, there was a major jump as 44 percent of Nigerians attested to seeing improvement in power supply to their households over the past one month; thus representing a significant increase of 27-points from May 2015.
The monthly tracking of state of power supply to households, also presents the proportion of Nigerians who have seen no improvement in power supply over a 30 month period and findings revealed that an average of 63.6 percent of Nigerians have seen no improvement in power supply.
Moreover the months of April (80 percent) and May (83 percent) 2015 recorded the worst power rating so far since NOIPolls commenced tracking power improvements.
Overall Power Tracking By Geo-Political Zones Over 30 Months
Power tracking by geo-political zones over a 30 month period also revealed that the larger proportion of Nigerian households across all geopolitical zones have generally seen no improvement in power supply.
Although, the South-West zone recorded the lowest overall average power rating at 32 percent over the period in view, thus indicating that this zone is the worst hit zone in terms of poor power supply, the South-East zone seemed to have enjoyed relatively the best power supply with an overall average of 41 percent, among other findings.