- President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday promised that his administration would give priority to power supply in Nigeria.
- He said that steady electricity would launch the country into faster socio-economic development.
- A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as saying this after the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, briefed him on the ministry’s activities at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
- Buhari said his administration had already identified the critical problems in Nigeria’s power sector and was taking appropriate actions to address them.
- The President said that his administration had also prioritised certain measures in its action plan to boost electricity supply in Nigeria.
- He said, “The problems besetting our power sector are not difficult to identify. Therefore, priorities can be easily set in order to tackle them.
“The problems are more with transmission than generation, and we equally need to secure the power infrastructure round the country. We will address all these issues.”
- Igali told the President that power generation in Nigeria, which was 1,750 MW in 1999, had now peaked at 4,600 MW.
- He added that gas was available to take generation to 5,500 MW in a short time, but that the country needed to expand its electricity infrastructure to accommodate additional generation.
- The permanent secretary later told State House correspondents that power distribution remained a challenge, but added that the ministry was working closely with distribution companies to improve the situation.
“They must improve on their network; they must improve on the availability of transformers and the supply of meters because Nigerians are tired of estimated billing. We have been working closely with them, tracking them, and sometimes even fining them,” he said.
