POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND PERFORMANCE OF IBADAN AND IKEJA ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES IN NIGERIA’S POWER SECTOR REFORMS: AN EMPIRICAL INTERROGATION

Achieving stable electricity power supply has been a problem in Nigeria since independence. The devastating consequences on social life and economic development encouraged the state to embrace privatization as a panacea, and coupled with testimonial of improved performance of power supply from both developed and developing countries experiences. However, since Nigeria’s decision to privatize resides with political leadership in the sector laden with interest, to what extent can one posit that political considerations does not interfere with pre-privatization selection process of private ownership and post-privatization management respectively. The uncertainty around this informs this study. This research adopts survey research design using questionnaire to elicit data from residential and commercial customers of Ibadan and Ikeja distribution companies, with Policy Choice theory as its theoretical anchor. Descriptive and multiple regression statistics were employed for the data analysis. The findings show that political interests overshadowed national interest in the selection process of private distribution companies and their post-privatization operations having a negative effect on performance. Thus, we recommend citizens’ intensive demand for due process and transparency from policy makers and a more proactive oversight by the legislative arm of government.