By Kazeem Waris
The Federal Government has said the recent rise in electricity generation to above 5,000 megawatts has yet to translate into dependable power supply for many Nigerians, as it unveiled fresh measures to strengthen the national grid and improve electricity delivery.
The Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this Monday while presenting his scorecard for his first 100 days in office, during which he also ruled out any immediate increase in electricity tariffs.
Tegbe said national generation and transmission had exceeded 5,000MW in recent weeks, compared with between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June 2026, with a peak generation of 5,330MW recorded in August and September.
He, however, acknowledged that higher generation alone had not resolved the electricity challenges confronting consumers.
“Our next task is to sustain these gains and translate them into more dependable supply at customer level,” he said.
The minister said the administration’s immediate focus was on stabilising the electricity value chain, recovering stranded capacity, strengthening transmission infrastructure, improving metering and addressing the sector’s financial challenges.
He disclosed that the 375MW Alaoji open-cycle power plant, which had been offline for three years, had been restored to the national grid.
According to him, new transformers commissioned at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos had unlocked 672MW of transmission capacity, while a 300MVA transformer energised at Katampe, Abuja, had unlocked an additional 240MW.
Tegbe said the Transmission Company of Nigeria had also secured the release of more than 300 containers of critical power equipment held at the ports, with the equipment expected to be inspected and deployed for ongoing transmission upgrades.
On electricity access, the minister said 62 solar and mini-grid projects had been completed across 30 states, providing 43.6MW of installed solar capacity and 41,735 new connections, with an estimated beneficiary reach of more than 208,000 people.
He listed among the projects a 3MW solar hybrid system commissioned at Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, as well as projects in Kogi, Kebbi, Lagos and Adamawa.
Tegbe said the Renewable Asset Management Company, RAMCO, would manage publicly financed renewable energy infrastructure and seek to mobilise N3 trillion in the coming years.
On the financial challenges confronting the sector, he said government had raised an estimated N1.23 trillion towards settling outstanding power-sector debts as part of efforts to address liabilities put at N3.3 trillion.
He said the intervention was intended to improve liquidity across the electricity value chain and strengthen operators’ ability to maintain infrastructure and meet their obligations.
The minister also disclosed that the government had taken steps to address revenue leakages linked to energy theft and other losses along the Ikorodu-Sagamu industrial corridor, which he estimated at about N120 billion annually.
On metering, Tegbe said about 350,000 meters had been installed during his first 100 days in office, taking cumulative installations to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.
He added that the resolution of the AMMON litigation had cleared the way for procurement of about 1.4 million smart meters under affected programmes.
Tegbe said 90,000 meters had also been installed in military formations, while 5,000 young Nigerians were undergoing training as smart-meter installers under the Power Force programme.
The minister reiterated that the Federal Government had no immediate plan to increase electricity tariffs, saying the priority was to improve service delivery, expand metering and ensure consumers were billed according to measured consumption.
He said the government would instead focus on stabilising major transmission corridors, including Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, while advancing plans for a Transmission Super Grid.
Tegbe said technical audits had commenced along the Lagos and Abuja corridors to identify weak points and guide investment towards interventions with measurable impact.
He also disclosed that the government was pursuing bilateral arrangements between generation and distribution companies to improve capacity utilisation and payment certainty.
On future investments, Tegbe said engagements with Chinese companies had secured commitments to accelerate priority power projects, including the 1.9GW Presidential Power Initiative, with the first transmission lines expected in the first quarter of 2027.
He said the government would continue efforts to improve gas availability to power plants, strengthen grid protection and control systems and tackle vandalism and electricity theft.
Tegbe stressed that the ultimate measure of progress would not be generation figures alone but the reliability of electricity supplied to homes, businesses and institutions.
He said the government would therefore focus over the next six months on translating recent repairs, investments and reforms into more visible improvements in electricity supply.
