Minister Promises Innovative Approach to Address Power Challenges

• Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, unveils plans to address power sector issues, focusing on consumers and optimizing distribution and transmission
• The minister emphasizes fostering liquidity by implementing models where consumers pay for various aspects of electricity generation

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has unveiled plans to tackle persistent issues in the power sector using a bottom-to-top approach.

Speaking at the Annual Roundtable for the Legislature, Judiciary, and other stakeholders organized by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Adelabu emphasized a shift in focus from the generation aspect to electricity consumers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The minister highlighted the intention to foster liquidity in the sector by concentrating on various models for electricity generation that consumers would pay for.

While acknowledging the significance of power generation, Adelabu stressed the need for meticulous attention to distribution and transmission to optimize the power generated but not effectively utilized by consumers.

“We will start from the customers, down to the distribution infrastructure to transmission. We will continue to improve the power plants, but the focus will be on the delivery channel of power, like transmission, distribution, and metering. The infrastructure is very important,” he explained.

Engr. Suleiman Yahaya, the Chairman of the Governing Board of NEMSA, urged the federal government to enhance funding for the agency to enable it to fulfill its mandate of enforcing technical standards.

Aliyu Tukur Tahir, the Managing Director of NEMSA, highlighted the agency’s role in enforcing technical standards and regulations, conducting technical inspections, and certifying all categories of electrical installations. Tahir emphasized that NEMSA’s functions are governed by the NEMSA Act of 2015 (now the Electricity Act of 2023).