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Corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria’s electricity sector

The Nigerian electricity sector faces political corruption, as well as petty and private-to-private forms of corruption, hampering all stages across the supply chain. Such practices have detrimental effects in the country, such as frequent outages, low levels of access to electricity, the adverse selection of politically connected investors, and affects consumers through demands for bribes. These risks can also hinder the ongoing transition to renewable energies in Nigeria. As mitigation strategies can reduce these risks, current initiatives also include measures to address them.

5 October 2023
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Corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria’s electricity sector

Main points

  • Nigeria’s electricity sector has undergone reforms in recent decades and now constitutes a complex ecosystem of different actors.
  • Key forms of corruption include political corruption, petty and private-to-private forms of corruption, which are affect the electricity supply chain from the generation to distribution stages.
  • Negative effects of corruption in Nigeria’s electricity sector include frequent outages and low levels of access to electricity, the adverse selection of politically connected investors and harm to consumers through demands for bribes.
  • In light of the existing risk in the sector and Nigeria’s political and institutional context in general, the ongoing transition to renewable energies in Nigeria is also vulnerable to corruption risks.
  • Mitigation strategies can reduce these risks and current initiatives by international donors and partners that support Nigeria’s electricity sector include measures to address corruption risks.

Cite this publication


Resimić, M. (2023) Corruption and anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria’s electricity sector. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2023:22)

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Miloš Resimić

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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