Lagos, Nigeria – Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has reported a significant reduction in public complaints about rising petrol prices due to improvements in electricity supply. Speaking at the 2024 Nigeria Energy Exhibition and Conference in Lagos on Tuesday, the minister highlighted how enhanced power generation has reduced Nigerians’ reliance on petrol-powered generators.
“People are no longer buying petrol as much as before to generate electricity. This is why the outcry over high petrol prices is not as loud as it could have been. If they had to buy petrol at N1,000 per litre to power their homes, the complaints would have been much louder,” Adelabu said.
The minister also discussed Lagos State’s ambitious plan to replace 1 million generators within a year, stressing the need to eliminate generators nationwide. “We must replace all the generators,” he emphasized.
On Nigeria’s power generation, Adelabu noted the slow progress, stating that it took nearly 40 years to add 2,000 megawatts (MW) to the existing capacity of 2,000MW achieved in 1984. However, the country has now reached an average generation capacity of 5,000MW, with a peak of 5,527MW recorded on September 3, 2024.
Looking ahead, Adelabu projected that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) could double its revenue to N2 trillion by the end of 2024, up from the N1 trillion generated in 2023. He also addressed the issue of legacy debts, revealing that around N1.3 trillion is owed to power generating companies (GenCos) and $1.3 billion to gas suppliers.
Efforts are underway to resolve these debts, the minister explained, while emphasizing the government’s focus on financial sustainability. He also noted the mobilization of over $1 billion to attract new investments into the sector, including a $750 million World Bank initiative set to begin next month, which aims to provide electricity access to over 2.5 million Nigerians.
“We cannot achieve energy expansion with government spending alone. The capital must come through the private sector,” Adelabu concluded.
