While Nigerians continue to struggle with electricity supply more erratic than usual, the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, can’t promise any significant improvements over the next year.
The minister said during an interview on a television programme on Monday, February 19, 2024, that fixing the sector’s problems will take time and political will.
“If anybody tells you that you’ll have 24/7 uninterrupted light in the next six months or one year, it’s a lie because it’s not practical even if you throw all the money in the world at it,” he said.
Adelabu is confident he knows how to fix the problems, but he can only promise a gradual, consistent improvement in electricity supply over time.
When his qualification for the ministry was called into question, the trained banker said Nigeria’s power sector problems have nothing to do with the engineering or technical aspect of things.
He listed the key problems as liquidity and funding, operational, and structural, and noted he’s already documented solutions for the unique problems in each segments of the value chain.
In highlighting solutions, Adelabu said the sector needs significant investment that will aid development and create lasting impact.
“We need consistent funding for us to get to where we’re going. If there’s no such funding, there’ll be very little we’ll achieve when it comes to transmission. To build a power substation now costs millions of dollars. To install 100km of 330 or 132 KV line costs hundreds of millions of dollars. So, it’s not little money that’s required to have stable electricity, it’s a lot of investment over time,” he said.