A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Professor of Legislation, Yemi Oke, has referred to as for a complete restructuring of Nigeria’s energy sector, insisting that solely a recent spherical of funding and possession reconfiguration can resolve its deep-rooted challenges. He argued that the present system stays unsustainable regardless of authorities interventions.
Talking in an interview with ARISE Information on Tuesday, Oke acknowledged that the sector has been suffering from persistent liquidity points, which have weakened operations throughout the worth chain.
Oke’s place comes amid the federal authorities’s transfer to settle ₦3.3 trillion in legacy money owed owed to energy technology corporations. Whereas he described the settlement as a constructive step, he maintained that {financial} injections alone wouldn’t clear up the sector’s long-standing inefficiencies.
“The sector has been bedeviled by liquidity disaster,” he stated, noting that unresolved money owed have considerably hindered efficiency and progress.
He, nonetheless, expressed assist for the federal government’s verified debt determine, describing the ₦3.3 trillion settlement as practical and adequate inside present business circumstances.
“$3.3$ trillion Naira being supplied as full and last fee… appears to me adequate by way of business actuality,” he said.
Regardless of this, Oke careworn that deeper structural reforms stay essential, notably in attracting new capital and experience into the sector.
“We will’t escape the truth… going by way of one other spherical of re-acquisitionary financing within the energy sector,” he stated.
In line with him, the answer lies in reopening the sector to new traders via partial or full possession adjustments, permitting recent funds and concepts to drive transformation.
“One other spherical of funds should are available… New entities might want to come,” he defined, highlighting the necessity for mergers, acquisitions, and concessions.
He likened the required reforms to the banking sector consolidation led by former Central {Bank} Governor Charles Soludo, which strengthened Nigerian banks and made them globally aggressive.
Oke additional emphasised that each technology and transmission segments require pressing restructuring, warning that many operators are both struggling or technically bancrupt.
He argued that and not using a deliberate effort to overtake possession buildings and entice credible traders, the sector would proceed to underperform.
“Till we rejig and redo what has been finished, we’d not going going to get to the place we’re going,” he stated.
Oke concluded that whereas debt settlement is a step in the precise path, solely daring reforms involving recent investments, restructuring, and strategic repositioning can ship a secure and environment friendly energy sector in Nigeria.
Triumph Ojo
Times Nigeria