The Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government has no immediate plan to increase electricity tariffs.
Tegbe gave the assurance in Abuja on Monday while briefing power correspondents on his first 100 days in office.
He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu was focused on stabilising the power value chain, restoring market discipline and strengthening governance in the sector rather than burdening consumers with higher tariffs.
Tegbe, who assumed office on June 8, said his first 100 days were devoted to diagnosing and stabilising the power sector.
He said the assessment conducted after he assumed office revealed constraints across every segment of the electricity value chain.
“Upon assuming office, the diagnosis we undertook at the onset revealed constraints at every segment of the electricity value chain. Gas supply to power stations was limited by damaged pipelines and commercial terms that discouraged investment.
“Our generation fleet was heavily dependent on thermal plants, with ageing equipment, deferred maintenance, stalled projects and capacity unable to reach consumers.
“The sector diagnosis revealed payment of only 27 per cent of generation companies’ bills, undermining their ability to maintain plants and pay gas suppliers,” he said.
The minister also said the transmission network faced vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment and frequent tripping.
He said the distribution segment suffered aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent, alongside inadequate metering, estimated billing, damaged assets and weak payment discipline.
Tegbe, however, listed some gains recorded between June 8 and September 16, including the restoration of the 375-megawatt Alaoji open-cycle plant after three years offline.
“Other gains include upgrade of substations at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos, unlocking 672MW, and a new 300MVA transformer at Katampe, Abuja, unlocking 240MW.”
Tegbe said generation and transmission had risen above 5,000MW in recent weeks, up from between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June, with a peak of 5,330MW recorded in August and September.
He also disclosed the release of more than 300 containers of Transmission Company of Nigeria equipment from the ports, as well as two solar and mini-grid installations across 30 states, delivering 43.6MW and 41,735 new connections.
According to him, 350,000 meters were installed within 100 days, bringing the cumulative figure to 1,004,260 as of August, while 90,000 meters were installed in military formations.
He also said an estimated N1.23 trillion had been raised towards settling the N3.3 trillion power sector legacy debt owed to generation companies.
The minister said the next six months would focus on deepening grid stabilisation along the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors.
He said efforts would also include developing the transmission super grid, linking supply to productive clusters through bilateral deals and preparing infrastructure for future demand, including the Mambilla hydro project.
Tegbe appealed to Nigerians to support the reforms and help protect power infrastructure against vandalism and theft.
“Our commitments remain clear: a disciplined approach, grid stability through strategic reform, visible improvements in electricity supply, and honest communication,” he said.
