JANUARY 12, 2017 – Power supply to Nigerian households in fourth quarter 2016 (4Q2016) declined as only an average of 37 percent reported improvement in power supply, as revealed in aggregated power poll results released by NOIPolls for the second half of 2016 (July to December 2016) covering Q3 and Q4.
This represents a significant 9-point decline when compared to the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 at 46 percent.
According to the report, Nigerians experienced the highest improvement in power supply in Q3 (46 percent) and this was possibly as a result of the adequate water reserves in the nation’s water dams within this period (the peak of the rainy season) used to power the Hydro Generating Plants since Nigeria’s Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydro plants rely on water to generate electricity.
A view of the individual months covered in this period revealed a constant downward trend observed from the month of October to December 2016 and the month of December accounted for the lowest (27 percent) improvement in power supply in the second half of 2016.
Similarly, analysis of the monthly average cumulative hours of power supply experienced by Nigerian households nationwide for the months of August and September 2016 each stood at 10.6 hours daily, representing the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply within the six-month period while the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply to Nigerian households in Q3, 2016 stood at 9.9 hours.
It is pertinent to note that although these daily average hours of cumulative availability of power were not near an acceptable standard of 24 hours’ daily supply, it was perceived to be a little better than the results obtained in Q1, Q2 and Q4, 2016 with the quarterly nationwide average daily cumulative power supply of 8.8 hours, 6 hours and 9.6 hours respectively.
These current results were in line with the power industry statistics obtained from the National Electric System Operation (SO) which showed that electricity generation improved step by step in the third and fourth quarter of the year across the country as power generation hovered above 4,000MW, contrary to around 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts in the second quarter.
Nonetheless, more still needs to be done to find a pragmatic solution to issues militating against power generation, transmission and distribution as anything short of this is capable of affecting development in the county.
Lastly, the power insufficiency in the country is of great concern and calls for immediate action to address this persistent problem. Nigerians are not oblivious of the tremendous efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria at salvaging the Nigerian economy, but without fixing the power sector, those efforts would be futile. This is because constant electricity supply is pivotal to achieving socio-economic development and as a nation that craves immense development in this regard; more needs to be done. These are some of the key findings from the aggregated power sector poll conducted by NOIPolls over a period of six months (July to December 2016).
Survey Findings- Nationwide Monthly Tracking of Power Supply
Analysis of findings from the monthly tracking of power supply over a period of six months, precisely from July to December 2016, revealed that 53 percent of Nigerians experienced more power supply in the month of September. However, a constant downward trend was observed from the month of October to December 2016 and the month of December accounted for the lowest (27 percent) in power supply in the second half of 2016.
Subsequently, quarterly analysis of results revealed that Q3, 2016 recorded the highest average improvement in power supply nationwide with 46 percent and this figure represents a significant 9-point decline when compared to Q4, 2016.
This implies that most Nigerians experienced less power supply in their household in the fourth quarter (Q4) than in the third quarter (Q3) of 2016.
An overall analysis of 2016 showed that Nigerians experienced the highest improvement (46 percent) in power supply in Q3. On the other hand, Nigerians experienced the lowest (17 percent) power supply in Q2 and this represents a huge 29-point difference between the two quarters.
Further analysis of the monthly average cumulative hours of power supply experienced by Nigerian households nationwide for the months of August and September 2016 each stood at 10.6 hours daily and they both represent the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply within the six months period. On the contrary, the lowest daily cumulative hours of power supply was observed in the months of July 2016 at 8.6 hours, according to NOI Polls report.
