Electricity-sector analyst and stakeholder Gaffar Tunde has sought to correct reports about comments by Power Minister Joseph Tegbe on tariffs during a Friday media briefing in Abuja. He said coverage had wrongly suggested that the Federal Government planned to raise electricity prices and end subsidies.
Quick facts
- A technical review of the transmission network is planned.
- Priority investment corridors are Lagos, Enugu–Port Harcourt and Abuja–Kaduna–Kano.
- The Rural Electrification Agency will help close distribution gaps.
- Mini-grid projects have already powered universities and health facilities.
- A new phase will target the University of Lagos, UCH Ibadan and The Polytechnic, Ibadan.
Tunde said the minister’s meeting with senior journalists was intended to explain the power ministry’s work since he took office. He urged the public to distinguish between verified information and politically charged or inaccurate accounts of the government’s tariff policy.
Tegbe identified a full technical examination of the transmission system as his first major priority. The review will assess deteriorating equipment, substations operating beyond capacity, fragile transmission routes, protection-system defects, network constraints and other operational risks.
The findings are expected to guide investment decisions, limit outages, strengthen planning and ensure that public spending on the grid produces measurable benefits. The ministry also plans targeted investment in three transmission routes: Lagos; Enugu–Port Harcourt; and Abuja–Kaduna–Kano, with the aim of improving grid reliability.
Distribution policy will be handled through a more coordinated model, with the Rural Electrification Agency helping to fill service gaps. The ministry also intends to use stronger, commercially viable high-demand areas to support weaker parts of the market and improve sector liquidity.
Higher liquidity, Tegbe said, would create room for additional projects capable of delivering tangible gains for electricity users. The ministry is also placing greater emphasis on service quality, particularly to shield vulnerable Nigerians from the effects of poor supply and rising costs.
The minister acknowledged that the power system remains below the required standard. Generation has reached 5,000 MW, he said, but that level is only an intermediate achievement. The real measure of success will be the reliable movement of electricity to homes, communities and industrial clusters.
Tegbe also pointed to essential facilities that have already received power through Rural Electrification Agency mini-grids, including universities and health centres. The agency is preparing the next stage of the programme, which will extend supply to the University of Lagos, University College Hospital in Ibadan and The Polytechnic, Ibadan, among other institutions.
The minister did not announce a policy intended to impose hardship on Nigerians, nor did he propose enriching a small group of solar-equipment manufacturers. He also did not declare that electricity subsidies had ended.
Rather, he explained that electricity support works differently from the petrol subsidy. In the power market, it reflects the gap between the cost-recovery tariff and the amount customers are charged, rather than a direct cash payment.
Rather than distorting the minister’s remarks or turning them into a political dispute, attention should remain on the sector’s reforms and the work still ahead. Nigeria’s electricity industry has substantial challenges, but progress is being recorded under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has shown a firm commitment to delivering the benefits of improved power supply to all Nigerians.
