The World Bank has said a total of 74 percent of power users in Nigeria are dissatisfied with the supply of electricity across the country.
The World Bank also stated that 93 percent of metered power users paid their bills regularly while 78 percent of electricity consumers in Nigeria received less than 12 hours of supply daily.
The bank disclosed this in its Power Sector Recovery Programme Opinion Research Fact Sheet.
It noted that the findings were done after a thorough survey conducted by the global financial institution.
“Seventy-six per cent (power users are) willing to pay more for electricity if supply improves. Sixty-seven per cent agree that electricity theft is a big issue and affects quality of supply.
“Fifty-eight per cent do not have a meter to measure electricity use. Seventy-eight per cent have less than 12 hours daily access to electricity. Sixty-two per cent do not believe that the power sector is being managed efficiently.”
“Seventy-four per cent are dissatisfied with electricity supply. Eighty-seven per cent are unaware of ongoing reforms (PSRP) in the power sector.
“Fifty-three per cent do not receive adequate customer service from Discos (distribution companies). Eighty-two per cent are unaware of tariff band classifications.”
Some of its key findings after the survey also showed that electricity supply was rated poorly by respondents.
It said, “Metering is a key concern nationwide – respondents were generally dissatisfied with the metering system. Electricity tariff is a nationwide concern.
“There should be significant improvement in service delivery before the increase in tariff. Majority of respondents are unaware of the key policies and activities of the government and operators.”
It added, “Electricity theft and vandalism are major issues and impact significantly on the quality of power supply.
“Respondents express high levels of distrust with regards to the government’s commitment to improving power supply.”
The bank said the survey respondents consisted of Nigerians of broad demographics such as age, sex, education and economic status noting that opinion research was the best practice for the development and implementation of national communication campaigns.
It however explained that data and information from the nationwide survey and focus group discussions would provide key insight about public opinion in relation to the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry.
Recall the World Bank had declared that businesses in Nigeria lose about $29bn annually as a result of the country’s poor electricity.
It had also observed that Nigeria had the largest number of people without access to electricity in the world stressing that every one in 10 people in the world without access to electricity now reside in Nigeria.