FG HAS NO PLAN TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY TARIFF – POWER MINISTER
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By ‘Sefiu Ajape
The Federal Government has said it has no plan to increase electricity tariffs.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Monday at a media parley in Abuja to mark his first 100 days in office, covering June 8 to September 16.
“Let me categorically state, and this is not a political statement: we have no plan to increase electricity tariffs,” he said.
Tegbe said the government was focused on improving electricity supply and strengthening the financial and physical foundations of the power sector rather than imposing additional costs on consumers.
The minister’s statement comes amid concerns over the financial sustainability of the electricity market and the future of government support for the sector.
He said the sector was constrained across the entire value chain, with interconnected problems that could not be solved simply by adding new generation capacity.
“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu entrusted me with the responsibility of serving as Minister of Power, I made four promises to Nigerians. I promised a disciplined approach to solving the sector’s problems. I promised to pursue grid stability through structured, strategic reforms. I promised visible incremental improvements.
“Upon assuming office, the diagnosis we undertook at the onset revealed constraints at every segment of the electricity value chain. Gas supply to power stations was limited by damaged pipelines and commercial terms that discouraged investment.
“Our generation fleet was heavily dependent on thermal plants, with ageing equipment, deferred maintenance, stalled projects, and capacity unable to reach consumers. The sector diagnosis revealed payment of only 27 percent of generation companies’ bills, undermining their ability to maintain plants and pay gas suppliers,” Tegbe stated.
The minister said the transmission infrastructure was similarly under pressure from vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment, and frequent system tripping.
He added that distribution companies were recording aggregate technical, commercial, and collection losses of between 30 and 40 percent.
“Across the market, inflation and foreign exchange pressures raised costs. Arrears owed by ministries, departments, and agencies exceeded 100 billion naira. Debts continued to accumulate, regulatory uncertainty weakened confidence, and inconsistent data made it difficult to establish a common factual basis for decisions.
“Substantial development-finance commitments also required better coordination to translate funding opportunities into electricity delivered,” he said.
Tegbe said the challenges reinforced one another, creating a cycle of unpaid bills, weak supply and rising debt.
“These problems reinforce one another. Unpaid bills weaken gas supply and maintenance; unreliable supply depresses collections; poor collections deepen debt. A new power station cannot, by itself, resolve that cycle.
“Sustainable improvement requires us to repair the physical system and the commercial relationships that keep it functioning,” Tegbe said.
He said the government therefore spent its first 100 days on diagnosis and stabilisation rather than concentrating solely on new projects.
According to him, the 375 MW Alaoji open-cycle power plant was restored to the national grid after three years offline, while transformers commissioned at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa, and Lekki in Lagos unlocked 672 MW of transmission capacity.
He added that a new 300MVA transformer at Katampe, Abuja, unlocked another 240MW.
Tegbe said operational records showed generation and transmission rising above 5,000MW in the weeks preceding the media parley, compared with between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June.
Generation peaked at 5,330 MW in August and September.
He, however, acknowledged that national generation figures did not necessarily reflect the experience of individual communities.
“National progress can coexist with an unreliable feeder in a particular community. So, when we say that there are improvements in certain places, we do not categorically deny the experiences of those that are yet to benefit,” he said.
On the financial side, Tegbe said the government had raised an estimated N1.23tn to address part of the N3.3tn power-sector debt backlog.
He also disclosed that about 350,000 electricity meters were installed during the first 100 days, taking cumulative installations to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.
He said the resolution of litigation involving the AMMON metering programme had unlocked procurement of about 1.4 million smart meters.
On the next phase of the reforms, the minister said the government would focus on stabilising the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano transmission corridors while beginning work on a Transmission Super Grid.
He said technical audits had commenced along the Lagos and Abuja corridors.
Tegbe said the government would report progress over the next six months based on supply reliability, billing accuracy and the resolution of faults and complaints.
“Our original commitment to visible, incremental improvements remains the benchmark. We will report progress against that benchmark, including changes in supply reliability, billing accuracy and the resolution of faults and complaints,” he stated.
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