The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has stated that Nigerians are complaining less about high petrol prices because they no longer rely heavily on generators due to improved electricity supply.
The minister stated this on Tuesday in Lagos, during his keynote address at the ongoing 2024 edition of the Nigeria Energy Exhibition and Conference, with the theme, “Breaking Barriers in the New Energy Era: Clean, Reliable and Sustainable”.
Nigeria’s power sector, however, continues to face significant challenges. Despite achieving a 5000MW milestone, the country’s power generation has only increased by 2000 megawatts in the last 40 years. This sluggish growth has sparked concerns about the sector’s ability to meet the nation’s energy demands, according to This Day.
Adelabu stated: “People don’t need to buy petrol again as much as they used to do for them to have power. That’s why the noise is even at this level. If they had to be going to the filling stations to buy N1000 per litre of petrol to generate electricity, we would have even had louder noise from the public.
“So, what we intend to do is to make sure that all the generators are replaced in line with Lagos State Policy of Replacement of 1 Million Generators in One Year. I saw that. We must replace all the generators.”
To address these issues, the federal government has outlined several initiatives. These include implementing cost-reflective electricity tariffs to boost revenue, resolving legacy debts owed to power generating companies and gas suppliers, and promoting local content development.
The government also aims to improve metering through the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Program, targeting the deployment of 1.3 million meters by the end of the second quarter of 2025. Additionally, efforts are underway to increase revenue generation in the sector, with projections indicating a potential N5 trillion in revenue.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s power grid experienced another collapse, causing widespread disruptions. The Transmission Company of Nigeria has begun restoring power, with supply already restored to major distribution centers.
This latest grid collapse marks the seventh such incident this year, highlighting the fragility of Nigeria’s power infrastructure. The TCN has attributed the collapse to a partial disturbance and is investigating the cause.
The federal government has recently demonstrated its commitment to addressing these challenges through initiatives like the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, aimed at enhancing grid stability and responsiveness.
