Factors for poor performance of privatization of electricity service delivery in Ekiti State Nigeria

Abstract

The quality of electricity service delivery which is publicly owned in Nigeria has been found to be unreliable with inconsistent supply and persistent power failure. This necessitates the option for privatisation approach to salvage the poor quality of this delivery. However, the current situation after privatisation is far from the expected reliability, and quality of the electricity service delivery. Hence, this research evaluates factors causing poor performance of privatisation approach to electricity service delivery. The objectives are to investigate why factors of due diligence and spatial data of electric facilities are not adequately considered in the privatisation planning process as well as the need to assess factors for poor performance of electric facilities functional condition and service quality. Similarly, factors for poor performance of existing electric facilities distribution network before and after privatisation were evaluated. The instruments used were interviews and questionnaires. 18 respondents comprising Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Management Officers, and senior officers from relevant government agencies including Bureau of Public Enterprise, National Electricity Regulatory Commission, and Federal Ministry of Power were purposively selected for in-depth interview. Using multistage sampling techniques, data were collected from 397 household heads from the neighbourhood of the selected four local governments using questionnaires. Content and thematic analyses were used for qualitative data analysis, while descriptive analysis and Wilcoxon test for the median difference were used to compare the two samples of household head responses. Besides, instrument reliability using Cronbach Alpha, multiple regressions analysis, and variance-based Structural Equation Modelling were used in the quantitative data analyses. Findings revealed unreliable and unsatisfactory electricity service quality. Service provider cum customer relationship was still poor as there was no significant median difference in the Wilcoxon test < 0.05 after privatisation except in a few variations. The importance of factors of electric facilities functional and network conditions were all significant in the hypotheses test at Probability value-p <0.05 and Critical Ratio-CR > i 1.96. The research concluded the imperative of adequate consideration of the factors of spatial data of electric facilities as a prerequisite to excellent performance of electricity service delivery in privatisation. Based on the findings, a privatisation planning process with detailed consideration for the factors of electricity service delivery components and their spatial data framework is recommended.