President Buhari Signs New Bill Allowing 36 States To Generate Own Electricity

President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari signed 16 constitutional amendment bills into law including the electricity bill, which means 36 states in the country can generate, transmit and distribute their own electricity.

"Another landmark change: By virtue of the Presidential Assent, Nigerian states can now generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid," President's spokesperson Tolu Ogunlesi said, ESI Africa reported on Monday.

He added, "By this signing, State Houses of Assembly and Judiciaries now have constitutionally guaranteed financial independence, while railways have moved from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list."

Ahmed Wase, who serves as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, revealed that the bills assented include devolving powers from the Federal Government to the states, considering some items were shifted to the Concurrent List from the Exclusive Legislative List in the Constitution.

Over several years, many analysts and lawyers urged for devolving power to the states as it was too heavy for the federal government.

Ayo Adebanjo, who is one of the founders of the Afenifere organization, shared their opinion on the new electricity bill.

"It is a step in the right direction but I don't believe in the amendment. Why didn't he sign the state police amendment into law? He is just deceiving himself," Adebanjo told Punch. "They can't amend the constitution, moreover the constitution they are amending is not our own, it belongs to the military."

He continued, "I have said it long before now if he doesn't want to accept the 2014 constitutional conference, he should call all the ethnic groups, all the nationalities that the colonialists colonized before they brought us together."

Senior Advocate Olalekan Ojo applauded President's decision and said it will help to make the state more functional.

"Some of these bills signed by the President, including that of railways and others are welcome. ," Ojo said. "It will make our states truly functional and ensure that Nigeria's federalism is truly federal."

Earlier this month, Buhari disclosed that he commissioned a 50-megawatt power plant in Maiduguri, which is the capital and the largest city of Borno State located in North Eastern Nigeria.

The president took to Twitter to share the suffering of Maiduguri city due to acute power supply shortages, which were "caused by attacks on critical infrastructure by insurgents."

He said, "I directed @nnpclimited to ensure immediate restoration of reliable power supply within the shortest possible time, and they have delivered a 50MW Power Plant."

Buhari, at that time, committed that he will "continue to implement programmes, particularly in the power sector, that deepen domestic gas utilization, expand national power generation capacity, revitalize industries, and create jobs and economic growth."

According to Power Africa, which is a U.S. government-led partnership, noted that Nigeria can use its existing plants in order to generate 12,522 megawatts, however, it is able to make around 4,000 megawatts, which is not sufficient for 200 million Nigerians in the country.

"The Nigerian power sector experiences many broad challenges related to electricity policy enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, gas supply, transmission system constraints, and major power sector planning shortfalls that have kept the sector from reaching commercial viability," as per Power Africa.