Kehinde Fajobi
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has attributed the inability to achieve the goal of generating 6,000 megawatts of electricity by December 2024 to rampant vandalism of critical power transmission infrastructure.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, in an interview with The Punch, Adelabu noted that the government had made significant progress toward meeting the target before repeated vandalism of electricity towers disrupted the plan.
Tunji stated, “If you look at the situation when the current administration took over, the generation was just about 4,000 megawatts. However, within a year, about 1,000 megawatts were added.
“By November 27, we again reached a target of 5,231 megawatts. Indeed, a promise of 6,000 megawatts was made, and with what we were doing, we felt it was achievable.
“Unfortunately, the work of vandals set us back a bit. We are not resting on our oars to ensure additional supply to the grid.”
Nigeria’s current electricity generation ranges between 4,000MW and 4,900MW, serving a population of around 200 million. As of Saturday, operational reports showed power generation at 4,363.79MW.
Tunji highlighted the financial strain caused by the subsidy debt, revealing that while this year’s subsidy amounted to ₦2.3tn, only ₦450bn was allocated in the budget.
He explained, “One of the key issues has been the cash backing of the subsidy, which relates to debt owed to generation companies and gas companies. Another issue has been the fragility of the transmission grid due to the level of vandalism.”
To address these challenges, he outlined government plans to enhance power generation in 2025.
These include increased budgetary provisions for subsidies, revamping ageing equipment, boosting infrastructure investment, and fostering private sector participation.
“The Federal Government has increased the budget allocation to the Ministry of Power and its agencies to ensure increased infrastructure investment.
“The minister continues to ensure a conducive environment for private sector participation, as this is the only way to provide the capital required for infrastructure improvements in the power sector,” he added.
The proposed 2025 budget allocates ₦269.74bn for special intervention projects, ₦47.35bn for transformer and substation construction, and ₦36.82bn for transmission lines and substation counterpart funding.
Additionally, the Transmission Company of Nigeria revealed it spent ₦8.8bn to repair and restore 128 vandalised transmission towers nationwide as of November.