Abuja, Nigeria – Professor Emeritus of Petroleum Economics and energy expert, Wumi Iledare, has called for urgent infrastructure investment and decentralization of Nigeria’s electricity market as solutions to the country’s recurring national grid failures.
In an interview with DAILY POST on Sunday, Prof. Iledare addressed the recent grid collapse on Friday, 23rd January 2026, which plunged Nigeria into darkness before power was restored hours later. He noted that the incident is not an operational accident but a structural problem inherent in the nation’s power sector.
“Nigeria’s recurring grid collapse is a structural problem, not an operational accident,” he said. “The real solution starts with serious infrastructure investment, followed by power decentralization and electricity market restructuring. A decentralized market would support an optimal energy mix, reduce systemic risk, and ensure that only excess power flows through the national grid.”
According to DAILY POST, the national grid has collapsed at least 16 times in the past two years, highlighting the persistent challenges facing the country’s electricity sector.
Band A Customers May Not Get Compensation
Prof. Iledare also expressed doubts that electricity consumers under Band A would receive meaningful compensation following grid failures. He described the current tariff system as poorly structured, lacking strong theoretical and regulatory foundations.
“The Band A pricing system was introduced largely as an ad hoc response to longstanding sector inefficiencies. Charging consumers based on hours of supply without transparent verification undermines both fairness and credibility in the electricity market,” he explained.
He added that regulatory mechanisms are too weak to hold distribution companies accountable for service failures, making meaningful compensation unlikely. “For Band A customers, the most realistic option may be a class action against DisCos to enforce service-level accountability,” he said.
Prof. Iledare concluded by emphasizing that tariff adjustments alone cannot fix Nigeria’s power crisis. “Fix the structure, decentralize the market, invest in infrastructure, and restore regulatory discipline—pricing gimmicks alone will not solve Nigeria’s power problem,” he stated.
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