President Bola Tinubu has ordered the clearance of more than 300 containers of electricity equipment stranded at Nigerian ports for years, including some reportedly held for over two decades, in a move aimed at recovering potentially usable infrastructure for the country’s struggling power transmission network.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, disclosed this on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Tinubu in Abuja.
According to Tegbe, the President directed the Ministry of Power to work with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to resolve outstanding charges and customs-related issues preventing the release of the equipment. The minister noted that the inter-agency clearance costs and demurrage charges would largely be resolved through debt reconciliation and netting between the agencies rather than requiring fresh cash outlays.
The minister said some containers had remained at the ports for between 14 and 20 years, with some held for even longer. He attributed the prolonged delays to unresolved clearance procedures and outstanding charges under previous administrations.
Tegbe said technical experts would inspect the equipment after its release to determine which items remained suitable for use. Serviceable materials would be deployed to electricity transmission projects, while obsolete or unusable equipment would be handled appropriately.
The directive comes as Nigeria seeks to address persistent constraints in its electricity transmission network, which limit the amount of power that can be delivered from generating stations to consumers.
According to Tegbe, the country’s transmission wheeling capacity currently stands at about 5,000 megawatts, while the Federal Government is targeting an increase to 19,000MW within two years.
The government has approved the commencement of procurement for proposed East and West Super Grids to strengthen transmission links across the country. The projects are intended to improve the movement of electricity from generation locations to areas of demand.
At the October 28 FEC meeting, the government also approved transmission infrastructure projects around Katampe in Abuja, Ikeja West in Lagos and the Lagos-Shagamu corridor.
The approved interventions include a 33-kilovolt double-circuit line linked to the Katampe Transmission Substation, the supply of three 300MVA power transformers for the Ikeja West Transmission Substation, and the upgrade of a 35.6-kilometre transmission line between Itumola, Mapasin and Shagamu. Additionally, the council approved key support facilities to modernize system operations, including progress on the construction of a new National Control Centre (NCC) in Osogbo, Osun State, to replace the existing 64-year-old facility.
The government is also addressing financial pressures affecting electricity generation. Tegbe said the Federal Government had paid ₦1.23 trillion out of the ₦3.3 trillion owed to electricity generation companies, as part of efforts to ease liquidity constraints and support gas supplies to power plants.
However, the recovery of the stranded equipment does not guarantee an immediate improvement in electricity supply. Its actual contribution will depend on the condition of the materials, the cost of clearing them and how quickly usable components can be installed in the transmission network.
The government has yet to disclose the total value of the equipment, the outstanding charges required to secure its release or a specific deadline for completing the exercise.
The clearance effort also raises questions about how much of the equipment can still be recovered after years of storage. Transformers, cables and other electrical components may require detailed technical assessments before they can safely be deployed.
The success of the directive will therefore depend on the speed of inter-agency coordination, transparent reconciliation of outstanding charges and the timely deployment of serviceable equipment.
While the move could help recover assets that have remained idle for years, its impact on electricity delivery will ultimately depend on the quantity of usable equipment recovered and its integration into ongoing transmission projects.
