Power outages remain despite rise in generation, ministerial promise

Our priority continues to be the provision of reliable electricity to Nigerians,” he said.

Speaking on a TVC programme monitored by Vanguard, Tegbe said: “Let me start by telling Nigerians, especially those in the three or four states that were recently affected by the outage, that I feel their pain, and President Bola Tinubu feels your pain. However, we are doing the best we can, and I believe it will get better.”

He disclosed that the Federal Government had paid N1.23 trillion out of the N3.3 trillion owed to generation companies (GenCos), leaving about N2 trillion outstanding, which it hoped to settle next year.

Tegbe said Nigeria’s installed generation capacity of 13,625MW translated into actual output of only about 5,000MW. He also disclosed that the government was pursuing a $2 billion East-West Super Grid project designed to support the evacuation of up to 19,000MW, with procurement underway and completion targeted within two years.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, apologised to Nigerians over persistent power outages, acknowledging the hardship caused by weeks of prolonged outages.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Oduntan warned against a return to the blame game among electricity sector operators, recalling that distribution companies, transmission operators, generation companies and gas suppliers had previously blamed one another for poor supply.

“Our major problem is that we have started that very wrong route that we went through between 2016 and 2019. What is that? Blame game,” he said.

He questioned the NNPC’s explanation that gas was available, urging the company to clarify whether outstanding payments were affecting supplies to power plants.

“We need to know whether gas was paid for and delivered, who did, who didn’t,” he queried, calling on the Minister of Power to bring stakeholders together to establish the actual causes of the outages.

Also, Rumundaka Wonodi, former Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), called for sustained investment and long-term planning to address the sector’s challenges.

Speaking on Arise  News, he said: “Fixing Nigeria’s electricity challenges requires sustained, diligent, long-term execution rather than rushed, short-term interventions. Nigeria needs much more power than it currently delivers.”

Vanguard