The Senate has urged the Federal Government to reconsider its strategy regarding the power sector, pushing for an end to the indirect profit-making of private electricity distribution companies using taxpayer money.

During the meeting on Thursday, Senator Yunus Abiodun Akintunde (APC – Oyo Central), who heads the Senate Committee on the Environment, expressed this concern. While addressing the Senate, he shared his frustration with the current situation where government funds are used to purchase electricity transformers for communities, only for these assets to be taken over by the Discos.

“When a transformer is purchased with government funds and given to a community, the DisCos demand payment for its installation,” Akintunde said. “However, once it is powered up, it becomes their property. This is how public money ends up benefiting private monopolies.” The senator, who is known as Nigeria’s first PhD holder in Energy and Environmental Studies, called this trend both unsustainable and unfair, emphasizing the need for the government to create a structured subsidy system that genuinely helps the average Nigerian.

“Electricity subsidies is not just a Nigerian issue—”they are important all over the world,” he said. “Even in developed nations like the UK, energy is subsidized. We shouldn’t give up on this notion just because it was poorly managed in the past. When managed correctly, subsidies can promote growth and safeguard the vulnerable.”

The senator also talked about what he called a core structural imbalance in Nigeria’s power industry. He pointed out that while generation and distribution have been privatized, the government still manages the outdated transmission infrastructure, which he described as underused and insufficient.

“If you examine most transmission lines and substations, they are old and unable to meet today’s power needs. This is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving a reliable supply through the system.

This matter goes beyond just transformers; it about the need to fix a broken system. We must put an end to the use of public funds for private gain. Our main goal should be to guarantee that Nigerians can access reliable and affordable electricity,” he warned.