MINISTER of Power-designate, Joseph Tegbe, has assured Nigerians that the country’s repeated national grid failures will soon reduce significantly.

He promised visible progress in the nation’s sector within the next three months.

Tegbe gave the assurance while addressing the Senate during his screening at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja on Thursday, May 7.

He admitted that Nigeria’s electricity industry was facing serious challenges but said his team would adopt a more organised and accountable system to tackle the crisis.

“There may be small pain, but we will get there, because we’re going to have a disciplined approach to addressing this,” Tegbe told lawmakers.

He further promised to present a clear reform plan with measurable targets, stressing that Nigerians should begin to see results within a short period.

“I’ll come and present to you what our plan is, with clear milestones. If you don’t see this in three months, it means you won’t see it in six months. So you must see it in three months, and you must hold us accountable for it,” he added.

According to him, a detailed strategy to improve electricity supply and strengthen the sector would be unveiled within the next two weeks. He said the plan would focus on ending financial leakages, improving liquidity and restoring stability to the national grid.

“We’ll put a stop to the leakages, to the bleeding and all the challenges that we have,” he stated.

Nigeria’s power sector has continued to struggle with unstable electricity supply for years, as repeated grid breakdowns have left homes, businesses and industries without power on several occasions.

Despite having more than 13,000 megawatts of installed generation capacity, electricity supply across the country remains far below demand due to transmission problems, poor infrastructure, weak maintenance culture and financial difficulties within the industry.

Tegbe lamented that the sector was also battling huge debts estimated at nearly N6 trillion.

“Today, we have an estimated almost six trillion debt in the sector,” he said.

He explained that government interventions, including bond arrangements, had reduced part of the burden to about N3.3 trillion, though the industry still remained under pressure.

“A lot of work has been done to reduce that to N3.3 trillion through bond. Even when the industry is struggling, only N3.3 trillion is a lot of pressure,” he stated.

Tegbe linked the ongoing liquidity problems to the inability of generation companies to fully meet payment obligations for gas supply.

“Today, GenCos can’t even pay adequately for their gas supply because there are shortfalls,” he explained.

On electricity billing, Tegbe defended efforts toward cost-reflective tariffs, saying the sector must gradually grow into a sustainable market system because electricity remains an essential service.

He also spoke on efforts to reduce estimated billing through mass metering, noting that one million electricity meters were distributed nationwide last year.

“And then, we need to roll out metering. Last year, we rolled out one million meters across the country. It has never been done before,” he said.

He noted that his first 100 days in office would focus heavily on stabilising the national grid and enforcing stricter operational standards within the sector.

“The first phase in the 100 days is to stabilise that grid,” he told the senators, adding that stronger discipline, better coordination and improved reserve systems would help reduce the frequent grid disturbances affecting the country.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Tegbe following the resignation of former power minister Adebayo Adelabu, who stepped down to pursue his governorship ambition in Oyo State.

Nigeria’s national grid has recorded several collapses since 2023, leading to repeated blackouts across the country and worsening operating conditions for businesses already struggling with rising energy costs.

During the screening, Senate President Godswill Akpabio warned Tegbe against powerful interests within the electricity industry who might resist reforms.

“When they’re having meeting in the ministry of power and they take light, the minister will become agitated and worried and then, the engineers will be relaxed taking tea because they know more jobs are coming,” Akpabio said.

He also alleged that some businesses benefiting from generator imports may not want stable electricity in the country because of their commercial interests.

After the screening, the Senate confirmed Tegbe through a voice vote. He is expected to be officially sworn into office by Tinubu in the coming days.