Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government has no immediate plan to increase the electricity tariff.
Tegbe gave the assurance in Abuja while briefing Power Correspondents on his 100 days in office.
According to him, the focus of the administration of President Bola Tinubu is to stabilise the value chain, restore market discipline and strengthen governance in the power sector, rather than burden consumers with higher tariff.
Tegbe, who assumed office on June 8, said his first 100 days were devoted to the diagnosis and stabilisation of the power sector.
”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 per cent of generation companies’ bills, undermining their ability to maintain plants and pay gas suppliers,” he said.
The minister also said power transmission network faced vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment, and frequent tripping.
Tegbe said the distribution segment suffered aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses of 30 per cent to 40 per cent, alongside inadequate metering, estimated billing, damaged assets and weak payment discipline.
The minister, however, listed the modest gains recorded between June 8 and Sept. 16 to include, restoration of the 375 Mega Watts (MW) Alaoji open-cycle plant after three years offline.
“Other gains include upgrade of substations at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos unlocking 672MW, and a new 300 Mega Volt Ampree (MVA) transformer at Katampe, Abuja unlocking 240MW.”
Tegbe said that there had been a rise in generation and transmission above 5,000MW in recent weeks, up from 3,700-4,700MW before June, with a peak of 5,330MW in August and September.
He also disclosed the release of over 300 containers of TCN equipment from the ports. And sic two solar and mini-grid installations across 30 states delivering 43.6MW and 41,735 new connections.
According to him, 350,000 meters were installed in 100 days, cumulative 1,004,260 as at August, and 90,000 meters in military formations.”
He also said that an estimated N1.23 trillion had been raised towards settling the N3.3 trillion power sector legacy debt to generation companies.
The minister said that the next six months would be used to focus on deepening grid stabilisation along Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridors.
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He said that there would also be development of the transmission super grid, linking supply to productive clusters through bilateral deals, and preparing infrastructure for future demand including Mambilla hydro.
The minister appealed to Nigerians to support the reforms and help protect power infrastructure against vandalism and theft.
“Our commitments remain clear: a disciplined approach, grid stability through strategic reform, visible improvements in electricity supply, and honest communication,” he said.(NAN)
