By Tom Chiahemen (ABUJA) –

The Federal Government has ruled out any immediate increase in electricity tariffs, even as the nation’s power generation climbed to a peak of 5,330 megawatts (MW) in August and September, marking a significant rise from the 3,700MW–4,700MW range recorded before June.

Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a media parley marking his first 100 days in office, saying the government was concentrating on stabilising the electricity value chain, restoring financial discipline and strengthening governance across the sector.

“Let me categorically state, and this is not a political statement, we have no plan to increase electricity tariffs,” Tegbe told journalists.

The minister said the government had mobilised an estimated ₦1.23 trillion to address the backlog of debts in the power sector, as part of a broader effort to tackle the sector’s estimated ₦3.3 trillion debt burden.

According to him, the financing intervention is expected to improve liquidity in the electricity market and strengthen the ability of operators to sustain power generation and supply.

Beyond addressing the sector’s financial challenges, Tegbe highlighted a number of interventions which, he said, were beginning to unlock additional capacity across the electricity value chain.

Among them is the return of the 375MW Alaoji open-cycle power plant to the national grid after being offline for three years.

He also disclosed that newly commissioned transformers at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos had unlocked 672MW of transmission capacity, while a new 300MVA transformer at Katampe, Abuja, had unlocked a further 240MW.

In another intervention aimed at accelerating power projects, the minister said the government had worked with relevant agencies to release more than 300 containers of critical electricity equipment that had been stranded at the nation’s ports.

Tegbe described the situation as one of the sector’s peculiar paradoxes: electricity projects remained unfinished in some locations while equipment required to complete them sat idle in storage.

Metering gap receives renewed attention

On the long-standing challenge of electricity metering, the minister said about 350,000 meters had been installed within his first 100 days in office, bringing cumulative installations to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.

He added that the resolution of the AMMON litigation had opened the way for the procurement of approximately 1.4 million smart meters, potentially providing a major boost to efforts to close the country’s metering gap.

Another 90,000 meters, he said, had been installed in military formations, while 5,000 young Nigerians were undergoing training under the Power Force programme as smart-meter installers.

Tegbe, however, cautioned against equating an improvement in national generation figures with a corresponding improvement in electricity supply for every Nigerian.

“National progress can coexist with an unreliable feeder in a particular community,” he said, stressing that the ministry’s ultimate challenge was to ensure that improvements recorded in some locations were translated into more reliable electricity supply across communities nationwide.

Renewables, mini-grids take centre stage

The minister said the government had also intensified its push towards renewable energy and decentralised power supply, particularly in communities and institutions where access to the national grid remained unreliable.

According to him, 62 solar and mini-grid projects had been completed across 30 states, representing about 43.6MW of installed solar capacity, 41,735 new connections and an estimated beneficiary reach of more than 208,000 people.

He cited the recently commissioned 3MW solar hybrid system at Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, as an example of efforts to provide more dependable electricity to educational institutions.

Tegbe also announced the launch of the Renewable Asset Management Company, which, he said, would professionally manage publicly financed renewable-energy assets while seeking to mobilise about ₦3 trillion over the coming years.

Transmission corridors targeted for stabilisation

Looking ahead, the minister said the next six months would focus on translating the repairs and reforms undertaken during his first 100 days into more visible improvements in electricity supply.

He identified the Lagos, Enugu–Port Harcourt and Abuja–Kaduna–Kano transmission corridors as priority areas in the government’s efforts to stabilise the national grid.

He further pledged greater transparency in the sector through the deployment of performance indicators and scorecards, publication of project costs and operator performance, accelerated universal metering, and stronger measures against vandalism and electricity theft.

“It’s been 100 days on this assignment,” Tegbe said. “This is not to say that we have reached our destination, not at all. But we have made modest progress.”

While urging the media to continue scrutinising the power sector, the minister also appealed to communities to play a greater role in protecting electricity infrastructure from vandalism and other forms of abuse.

“Electricity reform serves every Nigerian, whatever their political affiliation or place of residence,” Tegbe said.