FG tasked on accelerated power sector reforms for Nigeria’s recovery

The Federal Government has been urged to accelerate the power sector reforms to arrest electricity crisis derailing Nigeria’s  recovery.

According to the Director /Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, the country’s emerging economic recovery could be weakened unless the government urgently accelerates reforms in the power sector.

The advice followed the latest report of  the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, showing that the economy expanded by 4.43 percent in real terms in the second quarter of 2026, its strongest quarterly growth in five years.

Analysing the figures, Yusuf pointed out that despite  the positive headline growth in the second quarter, it was overshadowed by continued weakness in the electricity, gas and steam sector, which contracted by 10.63 percent during the quarter.

Although the contraction was an improvement on the 15.30 percent decline recorded in the first quarter, the CPPE boss said the performance remained unacceptable for an economy seeking to attract investment, expand industries and create millions of jobs.

In its policy brief on the Q2 GDP report made available to the Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday, in Lagos, Yusuf argued that a sustained recovery in electricity supply must become a central pillar of Nigeria’s economic and industrial strategy.

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According to him, power-sector reform should be accelerated as a central pillar of industrial and investment strategy.

Yusuf, who is a former Director-General, Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said reliable electricity would have a multiplier effect across the economy, reducing the enormous cost businesses currently incur on diesel, petrol and…