It is true that the Nigerian power sector is sick and needs immediate attention. Just imagine Tuesday, April 22, rain that fell in Lagos brought with it a complete downtime in both power and internet provisions. The brief rainstorm that preceded the rain led to the power and internet providers switching off transmissions, even before the rain started, which shows the power/internet infrastructure across the nation is due for a total overhaul.
But it is sad that when we copy, we copy blindly without thinking of reforming it to fit our peculiar situation.
“At the very least, there should be some sort of cost-benefit analysis and decision-making that indicates that it is better to spend $6 million (₦10bn) in this way than the much smaller sum it would cost to take energy from a more reliable, less expensive hydro via the Katampe Substation directly to the Villa Complex, the expert states.”
When Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, defended the Federal Government’s approval of a ₦10 billion solar power project for the Presidential Villa, citing similar energy practices at the White House in Washington, DC, he totally missed why some Nigerians are against the project at this point in time.
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He argues that Nigeria’s leadership must set an example in embracing clean energy solutions, insisting the investment is both strategic and sustainable, as opposed to reliance on diesel generators for Aso Rock’s power needs, which is not only costly but also environmentally damaging.
This is an argument and reasoning Nigerians understand so well, but the presidency has failed to see what Nigerians are pointing at, which has raised more questions than answers.
We know the solar power installation is expected to serve the President’s residence, administrative buildings, and other essential facilities within the Aso Rock Villa complex. The timing of the project, it seems to us, is of no importance to the promoters, as critics have questioned the timing and scale of the expenditure.
This is a time in the nation where over 133 million (63% of the population) people are suffering from multidimensional poverty, and this budgeted fund can go a long way to cushion this set of Nigerians.
It is an African adage that when a man’s house is on fire, he prioritises what to salvage from the inferno. Nigerians are saying that, since the Easter holiday, many Nigerians have been sent to their untimely graves in parts of Benue and Plateau states in a renewed wave of insecurity across the nation. This the Presidency has not seen as a priority, instead talking about a project that has no direct bearing on Nigerians.
Again, the ₦10 billion, is it a budget estimate or a contract sum for the project? Either way, what does this amount cover – what are the specifications for this alternative or backup system?
Although stakeholders welcome the transition, the generality of Nigerians see this as a vote of no confidence in the country’s struggling national grid and the power distribution and transmission companies, and by extension, the nation’s power sector.
To this, they argue that the presidency should look beyond Aso Rock getting a permanent power supply to prevailing on the power distribution and transmission companies to improve on their service deliveries to Nigerians.
According to Collins Nweke, a former green councillor at Ostend City Council, Belgium, Nigeria’s number one citizen has done what millions of Nigerians have been forced to do: “turn away from a broken system and seek independent, often more reliable, alternatives.
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“This move carries profound symbolism. It is at once a vote of no confidence in the national grid and a bold embrace of energy decentralisation.”
David Onyemaizu, a writer, says, “This current administration knows exactly what they are doing. They took themselves off the failed National Grid and are set to install solar power that would gulp 10 billion naira.
“Nothing concerns them with band A or Z. Comfort for the government, misery for the masses.”
Another major concern to Nigerians, the N10 billion solar project, is it a backup system or the Aso Villa going 100 per cent off-grid“? If the latter, why is this so when the Shiroro Hydroelectric, concessioned in 2013 to North-South Power, was designed and constructed primarily to serve the Federal Capital Territory?
“Note also that the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Katampe 330 kV/132 kV transmission substation, where the 330 kV line from Shiroro terminates, is much less than 5km from the Villa, meaning that it would cost comparatively nothing to construct a dedicated 33 kV line to the Villa (bearing in mind that grid-scale hydro like Shiroro is still by far the cheapest source of electricity known today),” an expert posits.
At the very least, there should be some sort of cost-benefit analysis and decision-making that indicates that it is better to spend $6 million (₦10bn) in this way than the much smaller sum it would cost to take energy from a more reliable, less expensive hydro via the Katampe Substation directly to the Villa Complex, the expert states.
According to GovSpend, a public finance tracking platform, the Presidency spent more than N483 million on electricity in 2024 alone. A large chunk of that came from a lump-sum payment of N316.88 million in October, presumably to settle part of the backlog.
Meanwhile, the State House has continued to burn millions on diesel. In the three months following that payment, records show that over N88 million was spent on diesel alone, a signal that power from the national grid, even when paid for, is not always available.
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If the presidency can go solar, it sends a strong message to other government institutions and private entities to follow suit, Tunde Adebayo, an energy consultant, says, noting decentralised renewable energy is the way forward.
In the meantime, South Africa, Morocco and Kenya have leveraged large-scale solar and wind farms, but Nigeria, with its abundant sunshine, is just about to start.
Aisha Mohammed, an energy analyst at the Centre for Development Studies, notes that the move to spend N10 billion on solar power is raising serious questions, not just about the presidency’s energy choices but about the message it sends to a nation whose power sector is already wobbling under the weight of high tariffs, low supply, and dwindling public trust.
For ordinary Nigerians who are grappling with record-high electricity costs and an epileptic supply, the question now is, if the Villa can’t cope with grid electricity, how are the rest of the country’s consumers supposed to survive? she asks.
OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA is the Chairman, Editorial Board, of BusinessDay Newspaper.
