Quarter 3 2019; Electricity Supply to Nigerian Households Experienced Marginal Improvement
Abuja, Nigeria. 15th October, 2019 – The new Power Poll result released by NOIPolls for Q3, 2019 has revealed that 36 percent of Nigerians say they experienced slight improvement in electricity supply in their respective localities when compared to Q2, 2019. This represent a 5 percent increase when compared to 31 percent obtained in Q2, 2019. This marginal increase in power supply may be attributed to the raining season as water level in the hydroelectric power generation increased to expected levels within the period in view. Additionally, Q3 2019 monthly trend analysis shows that electricity supply improved the most in August as stated by 39 percent of Nigerians.
Similarly, the poll further revealed that the quarterly cumulative hours of power supply in a day increased from 9.2 hours in Q2, 2019 to 9.6 hours in Q3, 2019. This signifies an increase of 0.4 cumulative hour of power supply when current results are compared with the Q2, 2019 findings. Also, month to month assessment indicates that the month of August 2019 had the larger share of cumulative hour of electricity supply in the country at 9.8 hours per day.
This 9.6 average quarterly cumulative hour of electricity supply for Q3, 2019 is still a considerable far cry from the 24 hours of power supply required for the overall development of the country and its citizens; as on the average, Nigerians say they have electricity supply only for about 40 percent of the time in a day. NOIPolls therefore, strongly advise that stakeholders in the electricity sectors should do all it can to ensure that electricity supply in the country in greatly improved by increasing electrification programmes and generation as electricity use and economic development tend to go hand-in-hand.
BACKGROUND
There have been efforts by the past and current administration to fix the power problem in the country, but the perennial issue has continued to defy solutions. Except these efforts concerted, spirited and determined, there is high certainty that the electricity challenge in Nigeria will continue to persist for years to come. It is worthy of note that Nigeria needs about 40,000 Mega Watt of electricity for the country to achieve its power need but so far, the country has been able to generate only 3,000 Mega Watt[1] as at June, 2019 (most recent value) which is grossly inadequate for a country with the size of the population.
The inadequate power supply in the country has continued to hamper economic growth such that some companies have been folding up or moved to other climes where power supply is relatively adequate. Hence, government need to ensure that the right framework necessary for the development of power sector is put in place. There must be deliberate effort by the government and all stakeholders to fix the power sector, otherwise the country will continue to grope in darkness and may never realize its economic potential in the nearest future. It is against this backdrop that NOIPolls conducted its quarterly power poll to assess electricity distribution to Nigerian households in the third quarter of 2019.
Nationwide Quarterly Tracking on Power Supply
Quarterly analysis of results revealed that 36 percent of Nigerians reported that they experienced improvement in power supply in their households in Q3, 2019. This represents a 5 percent increase in the proportion of Nigerians who said the experienced better power supply when current findings are compared to the result obtained in Q2, 2019.
Nationwide Monthly Tracking on Power Supply
Subsequently, monthly analysis of power supply to Nigerian households in Q3, 2019 revealed an increase in the proportion of Nigerians who experienced an improvement in July (38 percent) and August (39 percent). However, it experienced a 7 percent decline to stand at 32 percent in September 2019.
Nationwide Quarterly Average Cumulative Power Supply to Nigerian Households
Further findings showed that the quarterly average cumulative hours of power supply per day in Q3, 2019 stood at 9.6 hours.
Nationwide Monthly Average Cumulative Power Supply to Nigerian Household
Monthly analysis revealed that the month of August (9.8 hours) recorded the highest daily cumulative hours of power supply to Nigerian households in Q3, 2019. However, analysis from the beginning of the year shows that the month of January had the highest average monthly cumulative hours of power supply to Nigerian households which stood at 10.2 hours.
In conclusion, the poll has shown that electricity supply to Nigerian households experienced an improvement in Q3, 2019 as reported by 36 percent of Nigerians interviewed. Additionally, findings from the poll indicated that the cumulative hourly power supply increased to 9.6 hours in Q3, 2019. Despite this increase, it is still a far cry from the 24 hours power supply that is required to meet the power need in the country. Government and other stakeholders in the electricity sector must do more to increase electricity generation in order to meet the power requirement. There is need to explore other means of power generation which will help boost the power needs in the country. For instance, stakeholders in this sector need to invest in solar, geothermal, wind and even ethanol etc. which will help meet the power requirement in the country.
Finally, it must be stated that over-reliance on hydro-electric power generation may not have paid off as expected, hence the need to diversify to other forms of power generation. This will indeed help achieve the power need and ultimately boost the economy of the country as the growth of the economy rely heavily on optimum power supply.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted over a period of three months (July to September 2019). It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 3,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geo-political regions and 36 states and the FCT of the country, were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in 5 languages – Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Pidgin English and English. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise – within a range of plus or minus 4.65%.
We recognize that the exclusive use of telephone polling has its limitation of excluding non-phone-owning Nigerians. Nonetheless, with the country’s tele density put over 100 percent by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), we consider our telephone polling approach appropriate. Also, given the rigorous scientific process of randomization and stratification applied, we can confidently stand by the validity of our methodology and approach. NOIPolls Limited is the No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com.
Disclaimer
This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published. NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.
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