The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said the Presidential Metering Initiative had provided meters to more than 2.8 million customers to reduce revenue losses arising from unmetered electricity consumption.

The minister said this in Abuja on Thursday while delivering the opening address at the sixth annual conference of the Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria (PCAN).

The theme of the conference was: “$1 Trillion Economy: Nigeria’s Roadmap to Reliable and Affordable Power Supply.”

Mr Tegbe, who was represented by his special adviser on administration and projects, Martins Olajide, said President Bola Tinubu had tackled longstanding financial and infrastructure challenges in the power sector in the last three and a half years.

According to him, the president approved a N3.3 trillion plan to settle verified legacy debts owed to generating companies.

“We have raised N1.23 trillion under that plan, easing the pressure on generators and improving their ability to pay for gas and maintain their plants.”

Mr Tegbe said that the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) had also connected universities, hospitals and rural communities to solar power.

“We have commenced the construction of a new ultramodern National Grid Control Centre in Osogbo to replace the old one, built over 60 years ago,” he said.

According to him, the theme of the conference spoke directly to a subject central to the ambition under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Every serious conversation about Nigeria’s industrial future eventually arrives at the question of power.

“Not because electricity is the only constraint on enterprise, but because it multiplies the effect of almost every other constraint.

“Reliable and affordable electricity allows businesses to produce more and gives them the confidence to invest,” he said.

The minister said that the president had set a clear economic direction for the administration to build a more productive, resilient and investment-led one-trillion-dollar Nigerian economy.

“That ambition cannot rest on consumption alone. It must rest on production. And production, at scale, must rest on reliable, affordable and commercially sustainable electricity,” he said.

The minister said vandalism remained a serious threat to the power sector, damaging critical infrastructure and disrupting electricity supply.

He said that the president had approved the implementation of a coordinated anti-vandalism campaign involving the relevant security agencies.

According to him, the campaign was backed by a strengthened legal framework to protect power assets, deter sabotage and hold offenders accountable.

The minister said that the efforts were aimed at creating a sustainable industry that could support the achievement of the $1 trillion economy ambition.

He urged the press to play its educative role, especially by giving citizens the facts they needed to form their own judgments and take part in public life.

Kenny Anuwe, the managing director of FGN Power Company Limited, said in his keynote address that Nigeria could not reach a trillion-dollar economy if the government continued to provide almost all the investment in the power sector.

Mr Anuwe said that the government had invested over N10 trillion in the electricity sector since privatisation, adding that the industry would not be standing without it.

He, however, described the amount as frustratingly limited compared with the country’s ambitions.

He noted that the government accounted for more than 95 per cent of new infrastructure investment in the sector.

According to him, this was contrary to the objective of privatising the sector.

He explained that the government should provide the enablers, including infrastructure delivery and market conditions in which public and private capital could perform effectively.

The chairman of PCAN, Obas Esiedesa, said one critical issue that deserved urgent attention was the recurring seasonal decline in electricity generation, particularly between November and March.

During this period, he said, reduced water inflows into hydroelectric power stations often affected generation, while gas supply constraints to thermal power plants further compounded the problem.

“This recurring challenge has continued to undermine efforts to achieve stable electricity supply.

“It is, therefore, important for the government, regulators, electricity generation companies and gas suppliers to strengthen collaboration and develop sustainable arrangements that will guarantee adequate gas feedstock for thermal power plants.

“Especially during periods of reduced hdro power generation,” he said.

Mr Esiedesa said that there was a need to address the larger issues of inadequate transmission and distribution infrastructure, liquidity challenges, investment gaps and regulatory uncertainties to improve efficiency across the electricity value chain.

He said reliable and affordable electricity was undoubtedly fundamental to achieving the $1 trillion economy ambition.

“No economy can sustainably attain significant growth without adequate and dependable power supply to support industries, businesses and households,” he said. 

(NAN)