Rather than transform the sector, these companies began bleeding it. Generation capacity hovered between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts, quite laughable for a country of over 200 million people. Transmission and distribution remained abysmal. Yet, consumers were slammed with arbitrary bills, especially those still caught in the dragnet of estimated billing. Most communities had to contribute money to buy transformers, electric poles, and cables, items that should rightfully be provided by ‘privatised’ DisCos in exchange for their tariffs.

In essence, Nigerians were paying for their own power infrastructure, maintaining it, and still getting blackouts as a reward. The so-called DisCos became nothing more than rent-collecting entities with zero accountability.
A proper metering system is the backbone of a transparent and fair electricity market. But in Nigeria, it has become a game of perpetual pilot schemes and moving goalposts. The Meter Asset Provider, MAP, programme was supposed to address the metering gap, which stands at over 50% nationwide. Yet, years later, millions of consumers still rely on estimated billing, the euphemism for legalised extortion.
Consumers are charged thousands of naira monthly for power they never consumed. Complaints to DisCos are often met with disdain or silence. Even when meters are procured, they are riddled with software issues, mysterious “debt” accumulation on prepaid meters, high tariffs, and unexplained units disappearing like ghosts in the night.

In 2024, the government introduced a new electricity pricing regime, classifying consumers into bands, A through E, with A representing those who supposedly enjoy 20+ hours of power daily and E representing those with four hours or less. On paper, this looked like a clever mechanism to subsidise low-income areas and ensure targeted development. In practice, it has become another bare-faced racket.
Many consumers placed in Band A zones do not enjoy 20 hours of electricity, yet they are required to pay through their noses the heavy unconscionable tariffs for phantom power. With tariffs reaching as high as 225 per kilowatt-hour, comparable to or exceeding some parts of Europe, the irony couldn’t be thicker:
Citizens in darkness paying world-class prices for a stone-age service.
The social contract is broken, and the people have adapted but at a steep cost to health, economy, and dignity.
The rot in Nigeria’s electricity sector is systemic, and cosmetic tweaks like the band system cannot fix it. What’s needed is a surgical overhaul that prioritises transparency, accountability, and consumer justice.
First, the fraudulent privatisation process must be reviewed. Where necessary, licences should be revoked, and new firms with technical competence and performance-based contracts should be allowed entry.

Second, the metering gap must be closed within a defined, enforceable timeline. The must be immediate rollout of free prepaid meters for all households. No Nigerian should be subjected to estimated billing after 2025. Technology exists to achieve this if political will is present.
Third, the transmission grid still under government control must be expanded and modernised. Without this, even increased generation will mean little.
Fourth, the regulatory bodies, NERC, REA, etc., must be made independent of political and business influence. Their primary allegiance should be to the consumer, not the cartel.