The Nigerian Senate has raised concerns over the continued use of government funds to finance infrastructure that ultimately benefits private electricity distribution companies (DisCos), urging the Federal Government to end the practice.

Senator Yunus Abiodun Akintunde, who leads the Senate Committee on Environment, brought the issue to the fore during Thursday’s plenary. He criticised the system where government-funded transformers are handed to communities, only for the DisCos to take ownership once they’re installed and powered.

He described the arrangement as a backdoor method of enriching private entities with public resources.

“Communities pay for installation, government pays for the equipment, and then the DisCos claim the assets as their own. It’s neither fair nor sustainable,” he said.

Akintunde, noted as Nigeria’s first PhD holder in Energy and Environmental Studies, said the model lacks fairness and called for a shift towards a properly regulated subsidy system that supports citizens rather than corporations.

He argued that energy subsidies are not unusual, even in developed countries, and warned against abandoning them due to past inefficiencies. Instead, he advocated for a structured approach that shields low-income households while encouraging sector-wide development.

The senator also flagged long-standing issues in Nigeria’s electricity value chain, noting that while generation and distribution are under private control, the critical transmission infrastructure remains outdated and inefficient under government oversight.

“Our transmission backbone is aging and inadequate. Until we address that, consistent power supply will remain out of reach,” he added.

He urged the government to focus on delivering affordable, reliable electricity to Nigerians instead of reinforcing a system that transfers public assets to private hands.