Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu has canvassed tougher laws to fight the ongoing destruction of Nigeria’s power infrastructure.
At a two-day retreat hosted by the Senate Committee on Power, Adelabu stressed that vandalism, power theft, illegal connections, and unpaid electricity bills should be considered serious crimes, not just civil matters.
“The power sector cannot thrive when critical infrastructure is routinely sabotaged. These are national assets that belong to all Nigerians,” Adelabu stated, calling for a more robust legal framework and heightened public vigilance.
The minister highlighted recent improvements in grid stability, noting that no national grid collapse has occurred in 2025.
He attributed this to concerted efforts and investments made by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which installed 61 transformers in 2024 and 13 more in the first four months of 2025—transformers ranging from 10MW to 300MW, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Despite these strides, he lamented the persistent vandalism of infrastructure, illegal connections, and meter tampering, warning that these acts continue to undermine sectoral progress.
Adelabu underscored the critical funding challenges facing the TCN, saying:“The company currently relies solely on its internally generated revenue (IGR), which is grossly insufficient. Monthly IGR cannot even cover salaries, let alone maintain or expand the transmission network.”
He advocated the inclusion of TCN in national budget appropriations to ensure sustainable operations.
The minister also decried the chronic underperformance of electricity distribution companies (DisCos), which he described as the weakest link in the electricity value-chain.
“Despite substantial reforms, many DisCos have failed to invest in infrastructure. Their networks are old, electricity theft is rampant, and consumer service is deteriorating.”
According to him, most DisCos failed to sustain partnerships with their supposed technical partners post-privatization, choosing instead to divert resources to servicing acquisition debts rather than investing in service delivery.
Adelabu presented a sobering analysis of DisCo revenue remittances: “In Q4 2024, Northern DisCos remitted only ₦124.4 billion out of ₦408.86 billion billed (30%), with Abuja DisCo alone accounting for 85% of this figure. Southern DisCos performed relatively better, remitting ₦254.6 billion (67%), with Lagos-based DisCos contributing 70% of the remitted amount.
“These discrepancies mirror the disparity in infrastructure quality and investment, especially between economic hubs and underserved areas.”
On metering, he also stressed the importance of closing Nigeria’s metering gap, a major source of revenue leakage and consumer dissatisfaction.
“We launched the ₦700 billion Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and a World Bank-supported program targeting 4.3 million new meters by 2025. So far, 75,000 meters were installed in April 2024, with 200,000 more expected in May,” he disclosed.
According to him, the power sector currently faces a ₦4 trillion subsidy backlog, including ₦1.94 trillion for 2024 alone. Monthly shortfalls now exceed ₦200 billion, making the current tariff regime financially unsustainable.
“To avoid a complete breakdown, we must restructure underperforming DisCos and enforce strict performance benchmarks,” Adelabu warned.
“Without capital injection into the distribution segment, gains in generation and transmission will not translate into reliable electricity for Nigerian homes.”
The Minister outlined ongoing initiatives aimed at boosting power supply in Northern Nigeria to include the Makurdi Hydropower Project (1,000MW capacity) under consideration for development, the Revitalization of the Kaduna Thermal Plant, currently 87% complete with a 215MW capacity, after five years of abandonment and the Katsina Wind Farm (10MW installed capacity) under evaluation for concessioning to private investors, following expressions of interest from the Katsina State Government.
Adelabu also proposed regionalizing Nigeria’s transmission network to mitigate systemic risks and attract private investment, noting that performance gaps between regions—particularly Lagos versus the North—are tied to infrastructure disparities.
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