Wednesday March 25, 2026
www.thenewsdesk.ng
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has apologised to Nigerians over the prolonged electricity outages recorded in recent weeks, acknowledging the impact on households and economic activities across the country.
He made the apology on Tuesday, March 24, during a press briefing in Abuja, amid growing public concern over unstable power supply during the peak of the dry season.
“I want to apologise to Nigerians, officially now, coming from me as the Minister of Power, for this temporary issue that is leading to hardship being experienced, especially during this dry season, where there is so much heat everywhere.
“Businesses are being affected, schools have been affected, and industries have been affected. It is not our wish to find ourselves in this situation, but it is due to some factors that are actually beyond our control,” Adelabu said.
The minister, however, assured that efforts were underway to restore stability, projecting that improvements would begin within a short period.
“I can tell you, with the committee that we have set up, and commitments from gas suppliers, and the timeline for repair of the gas pipelines, two weeks from now, we should start seeing improvements in supply. Two weeks,” he said.
Adelabu explained that the government is closely monitoring repairs on key infrastructure, including facilities linked to gas supply, which are critical to electricity generation.
He noted that a committee had been established to ensure gas producers meet their domestic supply obligations to power plants.
“We already have a committee that is working on this to track compliance with the domestic supply obligations of these gas companies to our power plants,” he said.
He added that improved financial arrangements with gas suppliers would help encourage consistent supply and stabilise generation levels.
While acknowledging the structural challenges facing the sector, including reliance on gas-fired plants, pipeline maintenance issues, and funding constraints, the minister said efforts were ongoing to address these limitations.
“We are working on it 24/7 to make sure that we go back to the trajectory of 2025, when Nigerians commended us for a good job well done,” he said.
Adelabu also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s target of increasing power generation capacity to 6,000 megawatts before the end of 2026.
“Power generation will improve, transmission will improve, distribution will improve, and that 6,000 megawatts will be achieved before the end of this year, and Nigerians will be better for it,” he said.
He further stressed that the government aims to exceed previous performance levels in the sector.
“If we could provide such service in 2025, this is 2026, we are willing to do more, to even do better,” Adelabu said.
Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to grapple with longstanding challenges, including limited gas supply, ageing infrastructure, transmission constraints, and persistent liquidity issues across the value chain.
*FirstDaily
