Rural areas suffer blackout despite N14bn power spending

Despite spending more than N14.36 billion on alternative sources of electricity for rural areas across the federation in 2024, the Federal Government proposed to spend N1.3 trillion to deepen its efforts in 2025.

The Rural Electrification Agency will handle the projects under the Ministry of Power.

This is as the REA, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is probing for N12.7 billion fraud, has failed to connect hundreds of communities to the national grid.

As part of the ongoing probe, the EFCC traced 27 accounts to the suspended Managing Director of the REA, Salihijo Ahmad.

In March 2024, Ahmad was suspended indefinitely by President Bola Tinubu alongside Olaniyi Netufo, the executive director, Corporate Services; Barka Sajou, executive director, Technical Services, and Sa’adatu Balgore, executive director, Rural Electrification Fund and a new acting management team was appointed for the agency, headed by Abba Aliyu as the Managing Director/CEO.

Meanwhile, rural communities in Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Yobe, Sokoto, Jigawa, Zamfara, Enugu, Imo and several other states complained that they have not been connected to the national grid.

They have also not benefitted from any electricity projects despite fiscal appropriations and promises by the REA.

Last year, the World Bank stated that Nigeria has the world’s largest electricity access deficit, with 45 per cent of the population (90 million) lacking access to the electricity grid and 26 per cent living in rural areas.

To solve this challenge, the government entered into a $750m agreement with the World Bank to construct 1,200 mini-grids and other international creditors to improve electricity access in rural communities across Nigeria.

This energy gap is bridged through efficiency and sustainable energy solutions such as solar and grid-based power projects.

But contrary to its promises, findings by The PUNCH showed that tangible results haven’t been achieved despite numerous promises.

Stakeholders, including civil society organizations, also noted that previous efforts by the government to boost rural electrification have not yielded tangible results as millions of Nigerians in these areas continue to live without reliable access to electricity.

Data obtained by The PUNCH from GovSpend, a repository platform that analyses government spending, indicate that the REA spent N14.36bn on rural renewable electricity projects between January and November 5, 2024.

This amount is likely higher as the website didn’t capture its full-year expenditure.