The Federal Government has set January 2027 as its target to begin replacing ageing infrastructure across Nigeria’s national electricity grid as part of efforts to improve power supply.
Joseph Tegbe, minister of power, disclosed this on Monday during an interview on a TVC television programme, saying the replacement exercise would begin within the next one to two months. Tegbe identified the transmission network as the biggest challenge facing Nigeria’s electricity sector, noting that some transmission lines have been in operation for as long as 50 years.
According to him, the ministry is conducting a technical audit of the power sector to determine the condition of existing facilities and identify equipment requiring urgent repairs or replacement. The minister said the assessment, which began about a month ago, had already revealed defects in several components of the transmission network, including towers, insulators and conductor relays.
“I’m a systems person. So do a technical audit of the entire power sector. And today, we’ve gone about one month into the technical audit. We’ve seen some of the results,” he said.
He explained that the government intends to use the findings to direct investments towards the areas with the greatest infrastructure needs rather than spend money on repairs that may not address the actual problems.
“There are places where it is towers that have issues. There are places where it’s insulators. There are places where it’s a conductor relay,” he said. “What you don’t want to do is start spending money on insulators when you are meant to fix a conductor relay. Now we’re getting a clear picture.”
Beyond the transmission challenges, Tegbe identified financial difficulties within the gas supply chain as another factor affecting electricity generation. He maintained that Nigeria has sufficient natural gas reserves to support power generation but said outstanding payments and liquidity problems have made it difficult for some electricity generation companies (GenCos) to purchase the fuel needed to operate their plants.
The minister put the outstanding debt owed to generation companies at N3.3 trillion, adding that the Federal Government had paid N1.23 trillion in recent months, leaving approximately N2 trillion unpaid.
“In the last few months, we’ve paid down N1.23 trillion. We only have N2 trillion left. That N2 trillion, hopefully next year,” he said.
His comments come amid differing explanations from energy sector agencies over the recent decline in electricity generation.
On November 5, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) attributed reduced power generation partly to limited gas availability and lower water inflows into hydroelectric stations. However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said on November 7 that its gas transportation network had no operational constraints responsible for the decline.
Reacting to the differing positions, Tegbe said his priority was to ensure that relevant agencies worked together to improve electricity supply rather than engage in disagreements over the availability of gas.
“We have gas as a nation. However, sometimes, that liquidity issue becomes a constraint,” he said.
The minister also identified ageing power plants as another challenge affecting electricity generation, noting that the government was replacing some facilities with newer ones.
He said addressing weaknesses in transmission infrastructure, improving power generation and resolving financial constraints within the gas supply chain would help strengthen electricity delivery across the country.
