By Taibat Ummi Yakubu

The Federal Government has ruled out any immediate increase in electricity tariffs, saying its priority is to stabilise Nigeria’s troubled power sector and improve electricity supply before asking consumers to pay more.

Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja while briefing power correspondents on his first 100 days in office.

Tegbe said the administration of President Bola Tinubu was concentrating on fixing weaknesses across the electricity value chain, restoring discipline in the power market and improving governance rather than imposing additional financial pressure on electricity consumers.

The minister, who assumed office on June 8, said his first three months were largely spent examining the sector and identifying the problems preventing available electricity from reaching homes and businesses.

According to him, the assessment revealed challenges spanning gas supply, generation, transmission and distribution.

He explained that gas supplies to power plants had been constrained by damaged pipelines and commercial conditions that discouraged investment, while Nigeria’s generation fleet remained heavily dependent on ageing thermal plants suffering from inadequate maintenance and stalled projects.

Tegbe also disclosed that generation companies were receiving only about 27 per cent of the bills owed to them, leaving them struggling to maintain their plants and meet payments to gas suppliers.

On transmission, he said vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment and frequent system trips continued to threaten the stability of the national grid.

The distribution segment, he added, was equally burdened by technical, commercial and collection losses estimated at between 30 and 40 per cent.

He listed inadequate metering, estimated billing, damaged distribution assets and weak payment discipline among the factors contributing to the problem.

Power generation rises above 5,000MW

Despite the challenges, Tegbe said the government had recorded several improvements since he took office.

Among the achievements, he highlighted the restoration of the 375-megawatt Alaoji open-cycle power plant, which had remained out of operation for about three years.

He also announced upgrades to substations at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos, which he said had unlocked 672MW of additional capacity.

Another 300MVA transformer installed at Katampe, Abuja, he said, had unlocked an additional 240MW.

Tegbe said electricity generation and transmission had also climbed above 5,000MW in recent weeks, compared with levels of between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before his assumption of office.

He said the sector recorded a peak generation of 5,330MW in August and September.

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The minister further disclosed that more than 300 containers containing critical equipment for the Transmission Company of Nigeria had been cleared from the ports, potentially easing some of the infrastructure constraints affecting the national grid.

Over 350,000 meters installed

On metering, Tegbe said the government had installed about 350,000 meters within his first 100 days in office.

This, he said, brought cumulative installations to more than one million meters as of August, while about 90,000 additional meters had been installed in military formations.

He also disclosed that solar and mini-grid projects were being deployed across 30 states, delivering 43.6MW and providing 41,735 new electricity connections.

N1.23trn raised to tackle power-sector debt

The minister said the government was also working to address the huge financial obligations threatening the sustainability of the electricity market.

According to Tegbe, about N1.23 trillion had so far been raised towards settling the estimated N3.3 trillion legacy debt owed to power generation companies.

He said addressing the debt was essential to restoring confidence among generators, gas suppliers and other players across the electricity value chain.

Government targets stronger grid in six months

Looking ahead, Tegbe said the next six months would focus heavily on strengthening the national grid and improving electricity supply along strategic transmission corridors.

He identified the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors as key areas of attention.

The minister also announced plans to develop a transmission super grid capable of linking electricity supply more effectively to productive clusters through bilateral arrangements.

He said the government was equally preparing the power infrastructure for future demand, including the planned development of the Mambilla hydroelectric project.

While urging Nigerians to support the reforms, Tegbe appealed to communities and electricity consumers to help protect power infrastructure from vandalism and theft.

“Our commitments remain clear: a disciplined approach, grid stability through strategic reform, visible improvements in electricity supply, and honest communication,” the minister said.

For consumers frustrated by years of unreliable electricity and rising electricity costs, the minister’s promise of no immediate tariff increase comes alongside a broader challenge: whether the government can turn the recent improvements in generation, transmission, metering and debt management into sustained and reliable power supply across the country.