Ben Murray-Bruce Calls For Decentralised Electricity System, Says Privatisation Has Failed

Former Senator and businessman, Ben Murray-Bruce, has called on President Bola Tinubu to overhaul Nigeria’s electricity system and embrace a decentralised model in which states, communities and estates generate and distribute their own power.

Murray-Bruce made the call in an open letter to the President titled, “Start the Dance on Electricity: The Privatisation Failed. The Owners Are Billing Darkness.”

He argued that Nigeria’s 2013 electricity privatisation had failed to deliver the expected transformation, describing it as a “transfer of custody” rather than a genuine reform.

According to him, figures released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) showed that out of 13,625 megawatts of installed generation capacity, only 4,286MW was available for dispatch in April 2026.

He further cited the collapse of the national grid on August 22, when available generation reportedly fell from above 4,000MW in the afternoon to 1,132MW at about 8:30pm, with 12 power stations producing nothing.

“That is not an industry, Your Excellency. That is a rumour of an industry,” he said.

Murray-Bruce argued that the companies that acquired the Generation Companies (GenCos) and Distribution Companies (DisCos) during the privatisation lacked the financial capacity required to operate and expand Nigeria’s power infrastructure.

He maintained that the assets should instead have been sold to multinational power companies with the technical expertise and financial strength to invest billions of dollars in the sector.

The former senator also criticised the financial burden the power sector has placed on government, noting that GenCos were owed more than ₦7 trillion while the Federal Government had approved a ₦4 trillion bond programme to address liabilities in the sector.

He estimated that about ₦10 trillion in public funds had gone into the electricity sector over the past 13 years, despite persistent power shortages.

Turning to the DisCos, Murray-Bruce expressed concern over the number of electricity customers who remain without meters.

He said that as of February 2026, about 5.1 million of Nigeria’s 12.31 million active electricity customers were unmetered, representing approximately 41 per cent.

He particularly cited Yola, Jos, Kano and Kaduna DisCos, as well as Ibadan, which he said had nearly half of its 2.48 million customers without meters.

At the same time, he said, the DisCos collected ₦801.16 billion between January and April.

Murray-Bruce criticised estimated billing, arguing that customers should not be charged for electricity consumption that cannot be accurately measured.

“An industry that cannot generate power has discovered it can still generate revenue by billing darkness,” he said.

While acknowledging that GenCos were owed money, he also faulted them for relying heavily on tariff increases and government intervention rather than investing sufficient capital in the sector.

He proposed a fundamental shift from Nigeria’s current centralised electricity model to a decentralised system where estates, communities and local governments could develop their own power infrastructure.

Under his proposed model, an estate such as Dolphin Estate in Lagos, with about 5,000 families, could obtain a bank loan to build a metered solar power system capable of supplying the estate, with the state government guaranteeing the financing.

Residents would pay the estate association for electricity based on the cost of supply plus a regulated margin, while non-paying customers would be disconnected in accordance with the law.

Murray-Bruce argued that replicating such a model across communities, estates and wards would expand electricity access while creating new business opportunities for Nigerians.

He also proposed that state governments should take greater responsibility for powering streetlights, police stations, primary healthcare centres, schools and other state-level infrastructure with solar power, while the Federal Government would focus on federal roads, hospitals, universities and other federal institutions.

He said the Minister of Power should function primarily as a coordinator of the electricity sector across the federation rather than attempting to centrally control power supply nationwide.

According to Murray-Bruce, Nigeria is already spending enormous sums dealing with unreliable electricity.

He cited estimates that power unreliability costs the Nigerian economy about $26 billion annually, while households and small businesses spend about $12 billion each year on generators.

He also referenced an African Development Bank report indicating that about seven in 10 Nigerian businesses depend on generators and lose roughly three per cent of annual sales because of power outages.

He said the Electricity Act 2023 had already provided the legal foundation for greater decentralisation by moving electricity regulation away from being exclusively a federal responsibility.

Murray-Bruce pointed to the experience of Aba, where Geometric Power operates a generation and distribution system, as evidence that localised electricity supply could work.

He recalled that when the national grid collapsed on January 23, 2026, generation reportedly dropped to about 20MW, leaving much of the country without electricity, while Aba continued to receive power through Geometric Power’s system.

“One city solved it. Not with a policy paper. With a plant and a meter,” he said.

The former senator also urged Nigerians to hold state and local governments accountable for electricity responsibilities that now fall under concurrent jurisdiction.

He argued that citizens should demand to know what governors and local government authorities were doing with the powers granted to them under the Electricity Act.

Murray-Bruce further criticised the Federal Government over subsidy payments, claiming that only about ₦77 billion had been paid out of ₦1.859 trillion in subsidy invoices raised between April 2025 and April 2026.

He concluded by urging President Tinubu to abandon what he described as the failed electricity model and adopt a decentralised approach.

He said: “Do this, and I will say it publicly and plainly: within four years, seventy per cent of Nigeria will have power.

“Forget PHCN. Forget the men who bought what they could not run. There is nothing left to discuss. Let us move forward.”