Power Minister Tegbe: Experts demand more megawatts, real consumer inclusion
By: Abudu Olalekan
Power sector experts are already sending a clear message to the new Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe: steady the grid, yes—but raise the megawatts Nigerians actually get, and bring consumers into the conversation. Not as an afterthought. As stakeholders.
They shared these expectations in Abuja on Sunday, May 10, 2026, shortly after President Bola Tinubu named Tegbe as power minister, Reportersroom gathered.
Bode Fadipe, CEO of Sage Consulting, said the minister has to go beyond the usual “grid stability” talk. Nigeria needs more power on the grid. Simple.
He pointed out that the sector still hasn’t crossed 6,000MW in real, usable supply, even though the country keeps talking about an installed capacity of about 13,000MW. But installed is not the same as available. Nigerians know that one too well.
According to him, the country can’t keep hovering around 3,500 to 4,500MW for a population of over 200 million.
“Even if all 200 million people are not using electricity at the same time, for the people that actually need it daily, 3,500 or 4,500 megawatts is not enough,” Fadipe said. “If power is regular, FCT alone can consume that quantity.”
He also pushed the minister to take metering seriously—like, seriously seriously. He said metering has become that same old problem that never goes away, and it keeps damaging billing integrity, accountability, and revenue.
And revenue matters, because the whole sector keeps choking on liquidity issues.
“Liquidity continues to remain a major factor in the sector and without being addressed, the problem in the sector will continue to be there,” he said.
Fadipe added that the long-running tension between gas suppliers and power generation companies is still a big headache. When gas suppliers aren’t paid, they hold back supply. Then GenCos generate less. And Nigerians get less power. That’s the chain.
“If gas suppliers are not paid, they will not supply the GenCos and power system in this country is screwed in favour of gas-fired plants, not hydro,” he said, noting that hydro contributes far less than gas-fired plants.
On the consumer side, Princewill Okorie, Executive Director of the Electricity Consumers Protection Advocacy Centre, said Tegbe should stop running the sector like consumers don’t exist.
He urged the minister to set up a consumers’ consultative forum, so electricity users can speak directly—and the ministry can hear the raw truth, not polished reports.
“Enough of concentrating on transmission, generation, distribution without the consumers who pay the bills and are being extorted and exploited without any consequence,” Okorie said.
He also called for a dedicated unit in the Ministry of Power to enforce Section 119 of the Electricity Act, which covers consumer protection and performance standards.
According to him, DisCos act the way they do because enforcement is weak. No monitoring. No discipline. No real penalties.
Okorie said the ministry should either create an enforcement unit or activate the penalty sections of the law—especially the parts around Sections 209–226—so DisCos know somebody is actually watching.
