Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, says more than 40
percent of Nigerian electricity consumers now enjoy over 20 hours of regular
supply daily.
The milestone was revealed during a review of the ministry’s
achievements over the past year as part of the country’s Independence Day
celebrations.
In a statement on Sunday, Adelabu attributed the progress to
several “revolutionary measures” implemented with the support of President Bola
Tinubu’s administration.
He said the ministry’s initiatives are aligned with the
president’s renewed hope agenda, which aims to enhance industrialisation
through consistent power supply.
“The major achievement is the fact that today we generate
over 5,500 megawatts of power, we transmit and distribute it, and over 40% of
customers today enjoy over 20 hours of regular power supply across the nation,”
Adelabu said.
“You can see that there is a significant improvement between
when we came in and now, which we intend to improve further.”
Adelabu said the ministry is striving to enhance this
achievement by the end of the year, as reliable power supply is one of the key
campaign promises of the president.
He stressed the critical role of stable electricity in
developed nations, linking it to economic success.
“This is why you see great economies like Korea, China,
Europe, and North America industrialised today. Their stability in electricity
supply has been instrumental to their economic growth and industrial
development,” he said.
“That is why we say that we must achieve this for Nigeria as
a country. We need to achieve the requisite economic growth and industrial
development.”
‘RELIABLE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL ENHANCE ECONOMIC GROWTH’
Adelabu said the ministry’s vision is to provide reliable and
affordable electricity to households, businesses, and institutions.
This, he said, will enable the country achieve the desired
economic growth and industrial development.
Reflecting on the ministry’s progress since the inception of
the administration, the minister said the installed generation capacity has
increased from 13,000 megawatts to over 14,000 megawatts.
He said this was made possible by the addition of new
hydroelectric power plants and improvements in existing facilities.
Adelabu outlined several key reforms, including the signing
of the new Electricity Act 2023, which decentralises power generation, allowing
subnational governments to participate in the electricity market.
He said the liberalisation of the sector has paved the way
for private sector to also participate in the electricity supply industry.
In the infrastructure space, the minister highlighted the
successful commissioning of 10 power transformers and mobile substations under
the presidential power initiative.
He also acknowledged ongoing efforts to close the metering
gap, noting that over 7 million Nigerian households are still without meters.
“Within a year, we completed the pilot phase of this
project, which involved importing 10 power transformers and 10 power mobile
substations. They have arrived; we have installed them, and we have
commissioned them,” the minister said.
“Therefore, the electricity stability that we enjoy today is
not by accident. It’s because of all these transformers and mobile substations
that we commissioned and installed.
“There is the issue of the meter gap that we have. We all
know that out of almost 13 million customers that we have in the industry, over
7 million customers are still without meters and are on estimated billing.
“We said this is not the way to go. We must correct this,
which is why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu set up the Presidential Metering
Initiative, which has the mandate of installing over 10 million meters within
the next five years, at least 2 million meters on a yearly basis.
“We are making progress on this. The funds are being
provided, and we will soon go into the acquisition of these meters. This would
reduce the meter gap.”
‘WORLD BANK SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO REDUCE METER GAP’
Adelabu also said the World Bank is supporting these efforts
through the distribution recovery programme by procuring and installing 1.8
million meters.
He said the contract of about 1.5 million meters has already
been awarded and within the next two months, these meters will start arriving.
The minister also announced a special electricity supply
initiative for the nation’s universities and other institutions aimed at
preventing frequent power outages and ensuring they continue to benefit from
lower tariffs.
“We have a program which we call the Nigerian
electrification program, whereby we have about 34 universities to be energized
through solar energy sources. I think we have completed about 13 now, and they
are almost due for commissioning,” he said.
“We have plans to do this for some of the teaching hospitals
and some of our military formations.
“We have electrified over three million people through these
mini-grids across the rural areas nationwide.
“We also have what we call the solar home systems that we
give to each household, providing them with some point of light, some point to
charge their phones, and some points for farming.”
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