By Mathew Ibiyemi
The Federal Government’s recent announcement to establish the Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO) has sparked a critical debate among energy experts and industry observers. While the government frames this as a structural solution to the nation’s erratic power supply, stakeholders argue that creating a new agency may be a deficient strategy if it fails to address the fundamental issues of transmission monopoly and investment attractiveness.
Industry stakeholders who spoke with NewsDirect have reacted with skepticism to the news, suggesting that the primary bottleneck remains the government’s continued control over the transmission segment.
Speaking to NewsDirect, a prominent power sector stakeholder argued that the creation of GAMCO would be ineffective unless private sector players are permitted to operate in the transmission space mirroring the privatization of the distribution sector.
The stakeholder noted that Nigeria’s core power struggles stem from the transmission angle.
“By keeping this segment centralized under the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) or a new government-managed entity like GAMCO, the systemic inefficiencies are likely to persist.”
“Decentralizing the transmission network is the only way to significantly reduce the frequency of system collapses,” he argued.
Also commenting, an investment analyst contended that the government must address the investor fatigue plaguing the sector.
The proposal for GAMCO was brought forward directly by President Bola Tinubu during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, explained that the President identified the transmission segment as the main problem in the power value chain.
According to Idris, GAMCO is intended to manage grid assets more professionally to support the nation’s industrialization goals.
The government has already set up an inter-ministerial committee including the Ministers of Power, Finance, and Justice to design a regulatory and investment framework that considers the interests of existing operators.
The push for a new asset management company comes on the heels of repeated warnings from the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, regarding the state of the national grid.
Adelabu has previously described the grid as aging and fragile, noting that most of the country’s transmission infrastructure is over 50 years old.
The Minister has frequently pointed out that the current infrastructure cannot support the increased generation capacity the government is aiming for.
In his previous comments, Adelabu emphasized that without a total overhaul or a super grid to provide backup, the system would remain susceptible to the frequent collapses that have come to define the Nigerian power experience.
The establishment of GAMCO represents a recognition by the presidency that the status quo at TCN is no longer sustainable. However, as stakeholders have pointed out, the real challenge in the power sector is one of liquidity and technical decentralization. If GAMCO remains a purely state-run entity without opening the doors to private transmission franchises, it risks becoming another bureaucratic body managing the same decaying assets. For the government’s industrialization dream to become a reality, the new company must not only manage assets but also serve as a vehicle to bridge the massive investment gap and integrate the private sector into the transmission backbone.