The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said the Federal Government has no plans to increase electricity tariffs, stressing that its priority is to improve power supply and strengthen the sector’s financial and physical infrastructure.
Tegbe made the disclosure on Monday during a media parley in Abuja to mark his first 100 days in office, covering the period from 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.
The minister said the government was working to address the structural and financial challenges affecting the electricity market instead of placing additional financial pressure on consumers.
He explained that the problems confronting the sector cut across the entire electricity value chain, making it difficult to achieve sustainable improvement through increased generation alone.
“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 per cent of generation companies’ bills, undermining their ability to maintain plants and pay gas suppliers,” Tegbe stated.
He said the transmission segment was also facing significant challenges, including vandalised towers and lines, overstretched equipment and repeated system failures.
According to Tegbe, distribution companies were also dealing with aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses ranging 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,” he said.
Tegbe noted that the challenges within the sector were interconnected, with weaknesses in one area affecting others.
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“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 devoted its first 100 days to assessing the sector and stabilising existing infrastructure rather than focusing exclusively on launching new projects.
Among the developments recorded, Tegbe said 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 helped unlock 672MW of transmission capacity, while a new 300MVA transformer at Katampe, Abuja, added another 240MW.
According to the minister, operational records showed that generation and transmission exceeded 5,000MW in the weeks leading up to the media briefing, compared with between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June. Generation reached a peak of 5,330MW in August and September.
However, Tegbe acknowledged that improvements in national power figures might not necessarily translate into better electricity supply for every community.
“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 disclosed that the government had raised an estimated N1.23tn towards addressing part of the N3.3tn power-sector debt backlog.
He added that about 350,000 electricity meters were installed within the first 100 days of his tenure, bringing cumulative installations to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.
The minister further said the resolution of litigation surrounding the AMMON metering programme had cleared the way for the procurement of about 1.4 million smart meters.
Looking ahead, Tegbe said the next phase of the reforms would prioritise the Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano transmission corridors.
He said the government would also begin work on a Transmission Super Grid, while technical audits had already commenced along the Lagos and Abuja corridors.
Tegbe said the ministry would assess its performance over the next six months using indicators including power supply reliability, billing accuracy and how quickly faults and consumer complaints are resolved.
“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.