The House of Representatives has intensified its investigation into Nigeria’s power sector, questioning why persistent electricity challenges remain despite more than $32 billion reportedly spent on efforts to improve the industry.

The House Ad Hoc Committee on Power Sector Reforms and Expenditure raised the concerns during an interactive session with the Minister of Power as lawmakers continued an investigation into the performance of the sector following privatisation. The probe, which dates back to the Seventh National Assembly, is examining the effectiveness of reforms and expenditure in the electricity industry.

Lawmakers identified inadequate gas supply to thermal power plants, accumulated debts and limitations in electricity transmission and evacuation as some of the major problems still affecting the sector. Nigeria has more than 13,000 megawatts of installed electricity-generation capacity, but the amount that can actually reach consumers remains significantly constrained by limitations across the power value chain.

The committee heard that even where between 5,000MW and 7,800MW can potentially be produced, weaknesses in transmission and evacuation infrastructure remain a major obstacle. The Minister of Power briefed lawmakers on initiatives being pursued under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to increase electricity generation and stimulate employment.

He described the challenges confronting the industry as problems accumulated over several decades and said the administration was attempting to address structural issues previous governments had struggled to resolve. The committee is expected to prepare a report following the investigation and present its findings to the House for consideration. The investigation places renewed attention on one of Nigeria’s longest-running economic challenges: why decades of investment and power-sector reforms have yet to produce reliable electricity for households and businesses.

Breaking the Cycle

The House investigation arrives at an important moment. Nigeria understands many of the technical challenges affecting electricity. Generation, gas supply, transmission, distribution, debt and regulation have all been studied extensively.

The challenge is no longer identifying problems. It is implementing solutions consistently and measuring whether they actually improve performance. If the current parliamentary inquiry produces practical recommendations, strengthens transparency and shifts policy towards measurable outcomes, it could contribute meaningfully to reform.

But if it ends as another report documenting familiar challenges without changing how the sector is governed, Nigerians may continue hearing the same explanations while living with the same electricity shortages. After decades of reform, the country’s greatest need is no longer another diagnosis.

It is sustained execution backed by clear accountability.