Federal Government Speaks On Increasing Electricity Tariff
The Federal Government has ruled out any plan to increase electricity tariffs, saying its current priority is to improve power supply and strengthen the electricity sector.
Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, stated this on Monday in Abuja during a media parley marking his first 100 days in office, covering June 8 to September 16.
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“Let me categorically state, and this is not a political statement, we have no plan to increase electricity tariffs,” Tegbe said.
The minister said the government was focused on addressing the financial and physical challenges affecting the power sector instead of putting additional costs on electricity consumers.
According to him, the sector faces problems across the entire value chain, meaning that increasing power generation alone would not solve the crisis.
“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,” he stated.
Tegbe said the country’s generation fleet remained heavily dependent on thermal plants, many of which were affected by ageing equipment, delayed maintenance and stalled projects.
He said generation companies were receiving only 27 per cent of their bills, affecting their ability to maintain their plants and pay gas suppliers.
The minister added that the transmission network was also facing pressure from vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment and frequent system failures.
He said electricity distribution companies were recording aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses of between 30 and 40 per cent.
“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,” Tegbe said.
‘Unpaid Bills Weaken Gas Supply’
He explained that the problems in the sector were interconnected, with unpaid bills affecting gas supply and maintenance, unreliable electricity reducing collections and poor collections increasing debts.
“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,” he stated.
Tegbe said the government therefore spent its first 100 days focusing on diagnosis and stabilisation rather than concentrating only on new power projects.
He disclosed that the 375MW Alaoji open-cycle power plant was restored to the national grid after being offline for three years.
He also said transformers commissioned at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos unlocked 672MW of transmission capacity, while a new 300MVA transformer at Katampe, Abuja, added another 240MW.
According to the minister, operational records showed that power generation and transmission rose above 5,000MW in the weeks before the media parley, compared with between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June.
He said generation peaked at 5,330MW in August and September.
Tegbe, however, acknowledged that improvements in national generation figures did not necessarily mean that all communities were receiving reliable electricity.
“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 challenges facing the sector, Tegbe said the government had raised an estimated ₦1.23 trillion to address part of the ₦3.3 trillion power-sector debt backlog.
He also disclosed that about 350,000 electricity meters were installed during the first 100 days of his tenure, bringing cumulative installations to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.
He said the resolution of litigation involving the AMMON metering programme had also cleared the way for the procurement of about 1.4 million smart meters.
On the next phase of the reforms, Tegbe said the government would focus on stabilising the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano transmission corridors.
He added that work would begin on a Transmission Super Grid, while technical audits had commenced along the Lagos and Abuja corridors.
The minister said the government would measure progress over the next six months based on power 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.
