KEYNOTE SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF POWER AT THE PWC ROUNDTABLE – REIGNITING HOPE IN NIGERIA’S ELECTRIC POWER SECTOR

Distinguished Guests, Industry Leaders, Partners, and Members of the Press, ladies and gentlemen. It’s an honour to speak to you today on behalf of the Hon. Minister of Power Chief Adebayo Adelabu who is regrettable and unavoidably absent at this PWC 2024 Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable. The theme of this roundtable, “Reigniting Hope in Nigeria’s Electric Power Sector,” perfectly captures the vision we have embraced – transforming challenges into opportunities and delivering tangible progress to every Nigerian. This theme also resonates deeply with our collective mission to restore trust, drive innovation, drive inclusive growth in our electricity sector, and deliver tangible results in our power sector.The present administration in Nigeria, led by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, with the renewed hope agenda, recognizes that energy is not merely a commodity; it is the backbone of economic growth and job creation and under the President’s leadership, we have made some progress in the past year in addressing some of the issues across the Nigeria power sector and setting the sector on a path to growth. To ensure the sustainability of the energy sector, the Federal Government of Nigeria has implemented a multi-pronged approach spanning across legislation with the enactment of the Electricity Act 2023, policy framework with the development of an Integrated National Electricity Policy, introduction of national infrastructure development programs to expedite infrastructure expansion, leveraging bilateral funding to derisk investment, sector commercialization to enable project viability and bankability, and strategic partnership with the investment community and development partners to address bottlenecks across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry value chain.Our successes have not been without its challenges. We have recorded frequent grid disturbances recently and dip in supply level due various factors which include aging infrastructure, resource limitations, capacity inadequacy across the value chain, and predominantly the consistent vandalism experienced on the transmission networks across the country. We are actively addressing these challenges to ensure energy security and sustainability across the country. In the short term, we have implemented measures such as reinforcing standard operating procedures, developing detailed maintenance plans for key transmission substations, conducting line tracing on frequently tripping lines based on data analysis, replacing outdated equipment at critical stations, and assessing the integrity of key nodes to prevent future disruptions. For long-term strategies, we are finalizing plans for a super grid project to establish a more robust and resilient grid system.Today’s theme reminds us that hope is not a passive sentiment, but an active commitment and we must continue to innovate, collaborate, and implement bold ideas to restore confidence in our sector to deliver an energy future where every Nigerian has access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable power. In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to PWC for organizing this roundtable and I wish us a fruitful and insightful engagement. Thank you