Ministers of Power, Adebayo Adelabu; Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal; Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev; Budget and Planning, Atiku Bagudu; and Minister of State (Gas) Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, have stressed the significance of the power sector in achieving economic growth and industrialisation.
The ministers, who spoke at the inaugural meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Power Sector Working Group (IPSWG) held at Power House, Ministry of Power, Abuja, also highlighted the need for collaboration in tackling the challenges that could hinder the power sector from achieving full potential.
Addressing the ministers, the Minister of Power emphasised the importance of the power sector as a major driver of economic growth, which he said was in tandem with the vision of President Bola Tinubu for the power sector, who sees the power sector as the driver of other sectors of the economy.
“The President meant his words that he would give us all the support, all the backing, and all the inspiration we require to turn around this sector. He (the President) has kept his word since he assumed office. The improvement we have witnessed in the power sector is not unconnected to the backing and support of the President for all the policies and activities of the Ministry. And we are grateful for all the support. Just a few days ago, on July 27 specifically, we successfully generated and transmitted 5,105 megawatts of power, the highest ever witnessed in the last three years.
“The capacity before now had always hovered around 4,000 megawatts or below. But within a year of taking over, we have had a 25 per cent increase. We are actually on track towards achieving the President’s instruction to us that by the end of December, we must achieve a landmark generation and transmission of 6,000 megawatts.
Speaking on the reason for setting up the ministerial working group, Adelabu said the Power Ministry is on the right track towards achieving the presidential mandate.
“We will not only focus on generation and transmission but also distribute it to the doorsteps of households, businesses, institutions, and industries in Nigeria. So that they can feel the reforms and transformations in the power sector. Having realised this, we believed that power is not something that should be left alone to the Ministry of Power and its agencies because there are lots of supportive ministries without which we cannot achieve our mandate.”
He noted that there had been a lot of informal meetings, gatherings, and conversations regarding activities in the power sector and how to interrelate and depend on each other.
“We now felt we needed to bring ourselves together in a formal, official setting where all these issues would be discussed and everybody would be on the same page.
According to Adelabu, presently 75 per cent of Nigeria’s power generation comes from power gas plants, while about 25 per cent comes from hydroelectric power plants.
“We have our large and small dams everywhere, and we are still counting. At the same time, we are focussing on generating power in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner. This is why we talk about renewables, such as solar, wind, and small dams. From this, you will know that the Ministry of Water Resources is key to the success of the power sector, and they have been doing wonderfully well. That is why they had to be part of the inter-ministerial power sector team.
“Thermal generation goes with gas. Gas availability in terms of quality, transportation, and availability is key to all our power plants. The problem we had in January and February that led to the shutdown of Generating Companies (GENCOS) and a blackout was due to a short supply of gas in terms of quality and quantity, including pipeline vandalisation.
“The Petroleum Resources Ministry is key to the raw materials we need to generate over 70 per cent of power in the country. So if we do not cooperate, we do not collaborate, we do not partner, success would be far in the power sector. That is why we, the Minister of State, Gas, are a key member of this committee.”
While emphasising the importance of finance in achieving the power sector objectives, the power minister said it was on the basis of that that the ministries of budget, national planning, and finance were also incorporated into the inter-ministerial working committee.
Adelabu also acknowledged some departments, agencies, and parastatals that are also important in achieving the power sector objectives, such as the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), including the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Infrastructure, who is also a member.
On the terms of reference of the group, the Minister said it is to activate seamless power sector liquidity and financing as well as to provide guidance in the governance structure, particularly in the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), and to also look into “our energy transition program—how do we transition into our net zero emission target in the year 2060? We are working with the Ministry of Environment and NCCC and also focussing on our vision of 30-30-30 by the year 2030, which is to generate 30000 megawatts of power, out of which 30 per cent will come from renewable energy in the year 2030.”
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