The newly sworn-in Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has stated that the decades-old problems in the nation’s power sector would not be fixed in weeks or months, but pledged visible and consistent progress.
Tegbe who was sworn-in as power minister on Monday by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, noted that he would not promise what he would not be unable to deliver.
“I will not promise what I cannot deliver, but I promise visible improvement- as you have been seeing, and I will continue to communicate honestly with you every step of the way,” he said.
Addressing State House Correspondents following his swearing-in ceremony, Tegbe outlined a structured power sector reform strategy built around execution discipline, clear milestones, and public accountability, saying that preliminary results were already visible on the ground.
Among the developments the Minister highlighted was the revival of the 450-Megawatt Alaoji Open Cycle Power Plant in Abia State, which had been shut down for three years. The Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), has restored the facility, with up to 375 Megawatts now available for dispatch to the national grid.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) also energised new transmission assets at Katampe in Abuja, and at substations in Ayede and Abeokuta, strengthening grid capacity across multiple regions of the country.
Tegbe also pointed to a rapid-response intervention as evidence of improved operational readiness: When a 100MVA transformer failed unexpectedly in Abuja, TCN and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) teams worked through the night and fully restored supply within 24 hours.
On the consumer protection front, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently directed Distribution Companies (DisCos) to compensate Band A customers for supply shortfalls recorded earlier this year — a firm signal that consumers would be protected and that operators will be held accountable.
Since his confirmation, Tegbe said his team had held substantive engagements with all critical sector agencies, including the Ministry of Power, TCN, NDPHC, NERC, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET), and the FGN Power Company.
He added that discussions with international development organisations and funding agencies had yielded expressions of willingness to provide liquidity support to the sector, which according to him, was a vote of confidence in the direction of the reforms.
The Minister thanked President Bola Tinubu for the appointment and framed the power reform drive as a central pillar of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The destination is clear- reliable and affordable electricity for every Nigerian home, business and industry, around the clock,” Tegbe said. That journey is a long one. But we are firmly headed in the right direction.”
