By Johnson F. Odesola, PhD
There is an old African proverb that says, “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” In Nigeria’s electricity sector, the government and investors may be the elephants, but the ordinary consumer has become the grass.
For years, discussions about the power sector have centred on investment, tariffs, market liquidity, cost recovery, and the financial health of electricity distribution companies (DisCos). We are constantly reminded that investors must recover their investments and that tariffs must reflect economic realities.
These are legitimate concerns. No industry can survive without investment.
But somewhere along the journey of reform, Nigeria forgot the very people the electricity sector exists to serve—the consumers.
The market cannot survive without investors, but neither can it survive without consumers. Yet, if one listens carefully to most policy debates, one would think consumers exist merely to pay bills, not to enjoy rights.
Millions of Nigerians wake up every day uncertain whether they will have electricity. Small business owners watch perishable goods spoil. Hairdressers, welders, tailors, frozen food sellers, cyber cafés, hospitals, schools, and artisans spend fortunes on generators because public electricity remains unreliable. Families budget for electricity that often never comes.
Despite these daily struggles, consumers continue to receive bills that frequently bear little relationship to the service they receive.
This is why many Nigerians increasingly feel that electricity reform has become an exercise in protecting investors while leaving consumers to fend for themselves.
The Electricity Act, 2023 was introduced with the promise of transforming the sector. It was expected to improve efficiency, encourage investment, decentralise electricity administration, and ultimately deliver better service.
The Act also empowers the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to protect electricity consumers. Acting under that mandate, NERC issued the Customer Protection Regulations 2023, covering metering, billing, customer complaints, service standards, disconnection, reconnection, and consumer rights.
On paper, these protections are impressive.
Unfortunately, for many Nigerians, the reality is very different.
Take the issue of metering.
the greatest sources of conflict between consumers and electricity distribution companies remains estimated billing. Although successive governments have promised universal metering and launched programmes such as the National Mass Metering Programme, millions of Nigerian electricity customers are still without prepaid meters.
Without a meter, the consumer has no independent way of verifying the amount of electricity consumed. Instead, bills are estimated, often leaving families and businesses wondering how figures running into tens or hundreds of thousands of naira were arrived at.
Transparency should be the foundation of every commercial relationship. When people cannot understand how they are billed, trust disappears.
Another area that continues to generate public frustration is the Band A tariff system.
Consumers classified under Band A pay significantly higher tariffs because they are supposed to receive a minimum number of electricity supply hours every day. In principle, this is fair. Better service can justify higher payment.
But what happens when the promised service is not delivered?
In several cases, NERC has itself acknowledged that some feeders classified as Band A failed to meet the required hours of electricity supply. The Commission has directed some distribution companies to downgrade such feeders where the prescribed service levels were not maintained.
If regulators recognise that consumers did not receive the promised service, should those consumers continue paying premium tariffs?
This is not merely an economic question; it is a moral one.
Many communities have gone even further by purchasing transformers, electric poles, cables, and other distribution infrastructure with their own money. Across Nigeria, residents often contribute millions of naira because they cannot wait indefinitely for electricity distribution companies to provide essential infrastructure.
After making these investments, they still pay monthly electricity bills like every other consumer.
One cannot help but ask: if communities provide the infrastructure, pay for installation, bear the burden of maintenance in some cases, and still pay full tariffs, who is truly investing in whom?
The irony becomes even more painful when these same communities are disconnected over disputed bills without transparent explanations.
The law provides procedures for disconnection. Consumers also have rights to complain, seek redress, and receive fair treatment. Yet many Nigerians believe these rights exist more in regulatory documents than in everyday reality.
The imbalance becomes even more glaring when compared with how society treats ordinary citizens.
A hungry man who steals a tuber of yam may face criminal prosecution. A young person involved in internet fraud may be arrested and publicly paraded. These offences deserve legal consequences.
But what message are we sending when institutions that allegedly violate service standards affecting thousands of consumers continue business as usual with little visible accountability?
Justice must never operate with two different standards.
This is not an argument against investment.
Nigeria desperately needs private capital to improve electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. Investors deserve a stable environment that allows them to recover legitimate costs and earn reasonable returns.
However, investment without accountability creates exploitation.
Profit without responsibility breeds public resentment.
A successful electricity market cannot be built on consumer frustration.
The welfare of citizens is not secondary to investment. It is the very reason government exists. Every reform should improve the quality of life of the people, not leave them feeling powerless before institutions they cannot challenge.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has made commendable efforts through regulations, enforcement actions, and consumer complaint mechanisms. Yet regulations are only as effective as their enforcement.
Consumers should not have to fight endless battles simply to enjoy rights already guaranteed under the law.
Nigeria’s lawmakers also have a responsibility.
Oversight should not end with approving reforms or encouraging private investment. Parliament must continually ask difficult questions. Are consumers receiving the service they pay for? Are distribution companies complying with regulatory standards? Are sanctions imposed when operators violate the law? Are customer complaints resolved fairly and promptly?
These questions deserve honest answers.
Electricity is no longer a luxury. It powers hospitals, schools, factories, farms, businesses, homes, and the digital economy. It determines whether entrepreneurs succeed or fail. It influences job creation, food preservation, education, healthcare, and national productivity.
Every Nigerian depends on electricity.
That is why consumer protection in the power sector is not merely a regulatory issue—it is a matter of justice.
The future of Nigeria’s electricity sector should not be measured solely by investment inflows or the financial performance of electricity companies. It should also be measured by whether the ordinary woman selling frozen food can keep her business running, whether the young welder can work without relying entirely on petrol generators, whether manufacturers can remain competitive, and whether families receive electricity that matches the bills they pay.
Electricity reform must serve both investors and consumers.
Until that balance is restored, many Nigerians will continue to believe that the power sector has become less about supplying electricity and more about extracting payments from citizens who have little choice but to endure.
Justice in the electricity sector begins when consumers are treated not as captive customers, but as citizens whose rights matter.
Nigeria deserves nothing less.
