Power Minister Joseph Tegbe says the government is prioritising sector liquidity, metering and infrastructure upgrades instead of increasing tariffs.
The Federal Government has ruled out an immediate increase in electricity tariffs, saying its current priority is to stabilise the power sector and address the financial challenges affecting electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe disclosed this on Monday, September 21, 2026, during a media briefing in Abuja to mark his first 100 days in office.
Tegbe said the government had raised an estimated ₦1.23 trillion towards addressing part of the power sector’s accumulated debt, which he put at about ₦3.3 trillion. He said the financing was expected to improve liquidity across the electricity value chain.
The minister’s statement comes amid renewed concerns about the financial sustainability of Nigeria’s electricity market and reports suggesting that consumers could face another tariff increase.
“We have no plan to increase electricity tariffs. There is no immediate plan by this government to increase tariff. It is not on our table; it is not on our agenda,” Tegbe said.
Government Focuses on Sector Stabilisation
Tegbe said the government had spent his first 100 days conducting a diagnosis of the electricity value chain rather than relying solely on additional generation projects.
According to him, the assessment identified problems affecting gas supply, generation, transmission and distribution.
He said damaged gas pipelines and commercial conditions had constrained gas supplies to power plants, while Nigeria’s generation fleet remained heavily dependent on ageing thermal facilities.
The minister also identified deferred maintenance and stalled projects as factors limiting the ability of existing generating plants to deliver their available capacity.
At the distribution level, Tegbe said aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses remained between 30 and 40 per cent.
He added that generation companies were receiving payment for only about 27 per cent of their bills, affecting their ability to maintain facilities and pay gas suppliers.
Tegbe described the problems across the electricity market as interconnected, arguing that weaknesses in one part of the value chain could worsen challenges elsewhere.
Unpaid bills, for instance, affect the ability of operators to maintain infrastructure and meet gas obligations, while unreliable electricity supply can reduce collections from customers.
Power Generation Rises Above 5,000MW
The minister said electricity generation and transmission had remained above 5,000 megawatts in recent weeks, compared with between 3,700MW and 4,700MW before June 2026.
He said the sector recorded a generation peak of 5,330MW during August and September.
However, Tegbe acknowledged that higher national generation figures do not automatically mean reliable electricity for every community.
“National progress can coexist with an unreliable feeder in a particular community,” he said, adding that the government recognised that some consumers had yet to experience the reported improvements.
The minister said the government’s next challenge would be to translate the gains recorded at the national level into more dependable electricity supply for individual customers.
Alaoji Plant Returns to National Grid
Tegbe said the government had restored the 375MW Alaoji open-cycle power plant to the national grid after it remained offline for three years.
He also disclosed that new transformers commissioned at Apapa, Ijora, Alausa and Lekki in Lagos had unlocked 672MW of transmission capacity.
A new 300MVA transformer energised at Katampe, Abuja, also unlocked an additional 240MW of transmission capacity, according to the minister.
The interventions are part of efforts to recover existing capacity and strengthen the transmission network instead of depending only on the construction of new power plants.
Tegbe said the government would focus on improving the performance of existing infrastructure while addressing weaknesses that prevent available electricity from reaching consumers.
Government Expands Metering Programme
Metering is another major area of the government’s electricity reform programme.
Tegbe disclosed that approximately 350,000 electricity meters were installed during his first 100 days in office.
The installations brought cumulative meter deployment to 1,004,260 as of August 2026.
The minister said the resolution of litigation involving the AMMON metering programme had also unlocked the procurement of about 1.4 million smart meters across affected programmes.
He added that about 90,000 meters had been installed in military formations.
Another 5,000 young Nigerians are undergoing training as smart-meter installers under the Power Force programme.
The expansion of metering is aimed at improving billing accuracy and reducing reliance on estimated billing, which remains a major source of complaints among electricity consumers.
FG Moves Against Revenue Losses
Tegbe also disclosed that the government had blocked revenue leakages associated with energy theft and other losses along the Ikorodu-Sagamu corridor.
According to him, the losses had been estimated at approximately ₦120 billion annually.
He said improving billing, collection and remittance would help preserve resources needed to maintain and improve electricity supply.
The minister said tackling revenue leakage was necessary because additional generation alone would not resolve the financial problems affecting the electricity market.
The government is therefore combining infrastructure interventions with measures designed to strengthen revenue collection and improve payment discipline across the value chain.
Transmission Corridors Targeted for Upgrade
Tegbe said the next phase of the government’s electricity reforms would focus on stabilising major transmission corridors.
The priority corridors include Lagos, Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano.
The government also plans to begin work towards a Transmission Super Grid designed to strengthen the movement of electricity across the national network.
Technical audits have commenced along the Lagos and Abuja corridors to identify weaknesses and determine where interventions could have the greatest effect.
The minister said the government would measure progress over the next six months using indicators including supply reliability, billing accuracy and the speed at which faults and complaints are resolved.
Tariff Decision Comes Amid Wider Power Reforms
The decision not to immediately increase electricity tariffs comes as the government works to address the structural and financial problems within the sector.
Tegbe has previously said the administration intends to phase out electricity subsidies as part of efforts to make the sector financially sustainable, while distinguishing that longer-term reform from an immediate tariff increase.
For now, the minister’s latest position is that consumers should not expect an immediate tariff increase.
Instead, the government says it is concentrating on clearing part of the sector’s debt, improving liquidity, expanding metering, strengthening transmission infrastructure, recovering stranded generation capacity and reducing revenue losses.
The effectiveness of these measures will ultimately depend on whether the improvements recorded in generation and infrastructure translate into more reliable electricity at household and business level.
Tegbe acknowledged that national generation figures alone do not capture the experience of every electricity consumer.
The government has therefore set the next six months as another period for measuring whether its interventions can deliver more consistent supply, more accurate billing and faster resolution of faults across Nigeria’s electricity market.
