By Etuka Sunday
Current results of power Sector poll conducted by an independent polling group NOIPolls Limited for the First Quarter of 2014 have shown that six in every 10 Nigerian homes had less than five hours of daily electricity supply.
The March ended, 2014 results revealed that an average of 63 percent of Nigerians had experienced no improvement in their power supply, with 43 percent who experienced a worsened state and 20 percent having no difference at all.
Further findings according to the survey revealed that an average of 63 percent received less than 5 hours of continuous power supply daily with the majority (45 percent) receiving between 1-4 hours of continuous power daily and 18 percent receiving zero (0) hours of power supply.
The consequence of this is the increasing rate of alternative power source usage which according to the polls has led to an average of 79 percent of Nigerians using them to augment their power supply.
The surveyed group with a majority of 72 percent reported an increase in their spending on these alternative sources, just as there was an observed decline of power supply to households over the quarter as those that experienced any improvement in their power supply fell from 44% in January to 37% in March 2014. Although the aim of the power sector reform is to improve the service condition, power supply is yet to improve and had worsened in the first quarter.
The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo while addressing the issue in March said the decline was due to vandalism of gas pipelines, damaged transmission infrastructures and ongoing maintenance of the hydropower networks.
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