Lagos, Aug. 7, 2025 – Dr. Muda Yusuf, the Chief Executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE), has called for urgent government’s intervention on the receivership placed on six power generation companies (Gencos) in Nigeria.
Yusuf, who made the call on in a statement on Thursday, said urgent government intervention was imperative to prevent a complete collapse of the national power ecosystem.
He said the power sector is not just a business, but equally crucial for economic development, economic sustainability and economic security.
The financial expert said there were currently six gencos placed under receivership in the country.
He said aside from the Ikeja Electricity which was just placed under receivership, there were five others already under receivership before now.
He listed the others as the Abuja, Benin, Kaduna, Kano, and Ibadan Discos.
The CPPE boss said the issue of Ikeja Electric receivership highlighted the persistent challenges of the power sector, which has become a troubling conundrum.
“These challenges stem from flawed privatization processes, ageing equipment, limited technical and financial capacity of the power distribution firms, problematic pricing and tariff structures, coupled with affordability concerns among the citizenry and an unsustainable subsidy regime.
“The result has been an acute liquidity crisis in the sector.
“What has happened to the DISCOs is also partly a consequence of the prohibitive interest rate in the economy, given the high degree of leveraging of most of the DISCOs.
“It is very difficult for any long-term project to survive the current excruciating lending rate in the economy,” he said.
Yusuf said there were additionally clear conflicts between the commercial objectives of private investors (DisCos and GenCos), the citizens’ desire for affordable electricity, the quest by industrialists for an investment-friendly electricity tariff, and a politically acceptable tariff regime.
He said the government’s obstruction and the citizens’ opposition to cost-reflective tariffs, despite demands from private investors in the sector, had further complicated the situation.
“This created numerous contradictions and conflicts that require careful and painstaking strategic resolution,” he said.
The expert advised that while the government must take immediate steps to stabilize the sector, a sustainable framework for power sector liquidity and subsidies should be developed.
He stressed that that the ultimate victims of the power sector collapse would be the citizens, industries and investors.
