By Danjuma Amodu
The Federal Government on Friday unveiled a comprehensive roadmap to overhaul Nigeria’s electricity sector, assuring Nigerians that there is no immediate plan to increase electricity tariffs while promising improved power supply, universal metering, a more reliable national grid and a financially sustainable electricity market.
Speaking at the National Media Roundtable on the theme, “Resetting the Sector,” in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was embarking on a new phase of reforms aimed at addressing decades-long structural challenges in the industry.
Tegbe said the objective was to make electricity more available and reliable, strengthen the financial viability of the market, restore investor confidence and position electricity as a driver of industrialisation and economic growth.
“There is no policy by this administration to increase electricity tariffs beyond its current level. Our priority is service improvement, universal metering and ensuring Nigerians pay only for the electricity they actually consume.”
— Joseph Tegbe, Minister of Power
“The Nigerian people deserve to know where their power sector is headed, why certain decisions are being taken, and how those decisions will ultimately translate into better electricity supply for homes, businesses and industries,” he said.
He described the initiative as the beginning of a new era of openness, accountability and collaboration, stressing that “resetting the sector” was not an admission of past failures but an effort to build on reforms already initiated while tackling longstanding bottlenecks.
The minister credited President Tinubu with providing the strongest political commitment to electricity sector reforms since liberalisation, noting that the implementation of the Electricity Act had created a new regulatory framework allowing states to develop electricity markets tailored to their economic realities.
According to him, the Federal Government has embraced decentralisation as an opportunity to stimulate innovation, competition and private investment across the federation.
Tegbe also disclosed that the government was advancing a Power Sector Bond Initiative to settle longstanding debts owed to generation companies, gas suppliers and other market participants. He described the intervention as crucial to resolving the sector’s liquidity crisis and restoring commercial confidence.
On metering, he said the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) was designed to eliminate estimated billing. For decades, he said, estimated billing had eroded public trust between electricity providers and consumers.
The minister announced that the Ministry had launched “Power Force,” an initiative expected to engage 5,000 Nigerian youths in nationwide meter installation while building technical manpower through the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN).
On generation, Tegbe said operational improvements were already yielding results, with Nigeria consistently generating about 5,000 megawatts over the previous two weeks.
“Electricity must be generated, transmitted, distributed and paid for. All these components must function simultaneously,” he said.
To address systemic weaknesses, the minister unveiled a transformation agenda beginning with a comprehensive technical audit of Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure to identify ageing facilities, overloaded substations and weak corridors.
The government also plans to harmonise electricity regulation between the Federal Government and state regulatory commissions to eliminate jurisdictional conflicts and provide regulatory certainty for investors.
As part of efforts to stabilise the national grid, Tegbe announced planned investments in three major transmission corridors covering Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt, and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano.
He added that government would pursue strategic asset optimisation by linking underutilised infrastructure to industrial clusters and implement a long-term Super Grid Programme to strengthen the transmission backbone.
Within the next two to three years, he said Nigerians should begin to experience a stronger grid, reduced technical losses, improved market discipline, expanded electricity access and greater operational capacity.
He called on investors, operators, development partners, labour unions, consumer groups, state governments and the media to support the reform agenda, stressing that success would be measured by improvements in the daily lives of Nigerians.
“Our ambition is clear: reliable electricity that powers our homes, competitive electricity that powers our industries, sustainable electricity that attracts investment, and inclusive electricity that reaches every Nigerian,” he said.
