KEY POINTS
- Joseph Tegbe pledged to stabilize Nigeria’s national grid within his first 100 days in office.
- Nigeria’s power sector carries an estimated N6 trillion in debt, driven by gas supply shortfalls.
- Senate President Akpabio warned Tegbe about a generator cabal actively profiting from grid failure.
Joseph Tegbe walked into his Senate screening Wednesday with a number and a dare. Fix the national grid in 100 days, he told lawmakers, or hold him to it.
Tegbe is Nigeria’s minister-designate for power, appointed by President Bola Tinubu on May 6 following the resignation of Adebayo Adelabu, who left to chase the Oyo State governorship. The grid he is inheriting has collapsed at least 20 times since Tinubu took office in May 2023. Three collapses hit between May and December of that year. Twelve came in 2024. Twelve more in 2025. More have already occurred in 2026.
“If you don’t see these in three months, it means you won’t see it in six months,” Tegbe told the Senate chamber. “You must hold us accountable.”
A 100-day plan with two immediate targets
Tegbe laid out his priorities plainly. The first phase of his 100-day plan targets grid stabilization. The second moves immediately into metering. His administration pushed out one million meters last year, a milestone he described as unprecedented, and he intends to expand that drive to cut estimated billing.
“We need to enforce strict code against indiscipline and ensure a tax system across,” he said. “We need to also improve reserve in our grid. They have done it in other places so we just need discipline to do it.”
On the financial side, Tegbe acknowledged a sector carrying an estimated N6 trillion in debt. Power generation companies cannot adequately pay for gas supply because of persistent market shortfalls. The government has already retired N3.3 trillion of that debt through bonds. The remainder is still pressing down on the entire value chain.
The cabal Akpabio wants him to watch
Senate President Godswill Akpabio used his closing remarks to name a problem that does not show up in technical reports. He told Tegbe to watch the engineers who stay relaxed during grid failures because repairs mean deployment and income. He also flagged what he called a generator cabal.
“Those who are importing generating sets do not want power to work in Nigeria because they want to keep bringing generators into the country,” Akpabio said.
Tegbe promised lawmakers a detailed work plan, complete with clear milestones, within one to two weeks of his confirmation. He said Nigerians will see significant improvement. The Senate confirmed him unanimously.
