Under the capital expenditure of the firm, N450bn has been earmarked for the 'FGN Power Intervention Fund.'
The Government-Owned Enterprise aims to utilize a total of N454.81bn in 2024. The allocation includes N2.44bn for personnel costs, N2.36bn for other recurrent costs, N580m for general travel and transport, N15m for utilities, N110m for materials and supplies, N210.75m for general maintenance services, N34m for other services, N60m for fuel and lubricants, N40m for financial charges, N576m for miscellaneous, and N736.51m for supplementary overhead.
A portion of the expenditure will be directed towards power intervention funds in the upcoming year. By May 2022, the Federal Government's intervention fund for electricity distribution companies had risen to N2.9trn.
This amount represents the total funding extended to the sector since privatization in 2013. Despite consistent interventions, the power sector has faced numerous grid collapses.
In October 2023, the House of Representatives announced its intention to probe all financial interventions by the Federal Government in the power sector over the past 10 years, covering over $1.25bn injected into the sector since the 2013 privatization.
A member of the House of Reps, Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos), emphasized concerns about the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission's performance and the sector's overall threats. The investigation aims to scrutinize the effectiveness of DISCOs and NERC's ability to sanction erring stakeholders.
Addressing the challenges, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggested in its New Year statement that bringing private sector investment into the transmission segment would enhance the power sector.
It said, “The government needs to consider bringing private sector investment into the transmission segment of the power sector. This would ensure adequate technical and financial capacity for a well-functioning sector to power economic growth.”
