Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has assured Nigerians that the era of recurring national grid collapses will soon become a thing of the past, declaring that tangible improvements in the electricity sector would be visible within three months.

‎Tegbe made the remarks while addressing the Senate during plenary shortly before his confirmation by the Red Chamber.

‎Speaking on the deep-rooted challenges confronting Nigeria’s power sector, the minister acknowledged that reforms may come with temporary hardship but insisted that his administration would adopt a disciplined and accountable approach to stabilising the sector.

‎“There may be small pain but we will get there, because we’re going to have a disciplined approach to addressing this,” Tegbe told lawmakers.

‎“I’ll come and present to you what our plan is, with clear milestones. If you don’t see this in three months, it means you won’t see it in six months. So you must see it in three months, and you must hold us accountable for it,” he added.

‎The minister said his team would, within the next one or two weeks, unveil a detailed roadmap for reforms aimed at ending leakages, addressing liquidity constraints and stabilising the national grid.

‎According to him, “We’ll put a stop to the leakages, to the bleeding and all the challenges that we have.”

‎Nigeria’s electricity sector has for decades battled chronic instability, with repeated national grid collapses plunging millions of homes and businesses into darkness.

The country recorded several grid disturbances and collapses in recent years, worsening concerns over weak transmission infrastructure, poor maintenance, inadequate generation capacity and liquidity problems across the value chain.

‎Industry operators have repeatedly blamed the crisis on obsolete equipment, insufficient investment and mounting debts owed to generation companies (GenCos).

‎Despite having an installed generation capacity of over 13,000 megawatts, Nigeria struggles to transmit and distribute stable electricity, with average daily supply often hovering far below national demand.

‎Tegbe admitted that the sector remains weighed down by massive financial obligations, revealing that the industry’s debt profile was initially close to ₦6 trillion.

‎“Today, we have an estimated almost six trillion debt in the sector,” he said.

‎He, however, noted that government interventions had helped reduce the burden to about ₦3.3 trillion through bond arrangements.

‎“A lot of work has been done to reduce that to ₦3.3 trillion through bond. Even when the industry is struggling, only ₦3.3 trillion is a lot of pressure,” he stated.

‎The minister linked the persistent liquidity crisis to the inability of generation companies to meet obligations to gas suppliers.

‎“Today, GenCos can’t even pay adequately for their gas supply because there are shortfalls,” he explained.

‎On electricity tariffs, Tegbe defended the gradual move toward market-reflective pricing, saying the industry must mature to achieve long-term sustainability.

‎“When we get there, the industry has to be mature enough because power is an essential commodity,” he said.

‎He also highlighted efforts to close Nigeria’s metering gap, disclosing that one million meters were deployed nationwide last year — a feat he described as unprecedented.

‎“And then we need to roll out metering. Last year, we rolled out one million meters across the country. It has never been done before,” Tegbe said.

‎‎His confirmation comes amid growing public frustration over erratic electricity supply, soaring energy costs and repeated nationwide blackouts that continue to cripple businesses and economic activities across the country. (Daily Trust)