Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister for Power, has stated that the increasing incidents of vandalism targeting critical power transmission equipment hindered the achievement of the ambitious goal to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity by December 2024.

He explained that the government had implemented measures to reach the milestone and was on track until multiple incidents of vandalism to electricity towers disrupted the plan.

The Special Adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, revealed this during an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH when asked about the reasons behind the failed projections.

Nigeria’s power generation currently ranges between 4,000 MW and 4,900 MW from 19 power generation plants, serving a population of approximately 200 million people.

Earlier this year, Adelabu pledged that power generation in Nigeria would reach 6,000MW by the end of the year, citing improvements in the sector over the past year.

However, the frequent collapse of the nation’s electricity grid and the vandalisation of towers ultimately affected the stability of the electricity supply, hindering efforts to raise the country’s power generation.

The special adviser, who had expressed optimism about reaching the target in a meeting with journalists in November, stated that approximately 1,000 megawatts had been added since the current administration took office.

He said, “If you look at the situation when the current administration took over, the generation was just about 4,000 megawatts. However, within a year, about 1,000 megawatts were added. By November 27, we again reached a target of 5,231 megawatts. Indeed, a promise of 6,000 megawatts was made, and with what we were doing, we felt it was achievable. Unfortunately, the work of vandals set us back a bit. We are not resting on our oars to ensure additional supply to the grid.”

As of November 2024, the Transmission Company of Nigeria stated that it had spent N8.8bn to repair and restore 128 vandalised transmission towers across the country.

He also mentioned another issue facing the sector: cash backing for subsidy payments, noting that only N450bn was budgeted for the current year, while the debt incurred for subsidy payments amounted to N2.3tn.

Bolaji said, “One of the key issues has been the cash backing of the subsidy, which relates to debt owed to generation companies and gas companies. This year’s subsidy will be approximately N2.3tn, but only N450bn was budgeted.

“Another issue has been the fragility of the transmission grid due to the level of vandalism.”

On possible solutions to improve generation in 2025, the media adviser said, “Firstly, the government will make improved provision in the budget for subsidies to ensure payments are made on time. We will continue to push to ensure the market continues to pay for the electricity consumed.

“The committee on revamping ageing equipment is also in place. The Federal Government has increased the budget allocation to the Ministry of Power and its agencies to ensure increased infrastructure investment.

“The minister continues to ensure a conducive environment for private sector participation, as this is the only way to provide the capital required for infrastructure improvements in the power sector,” he concluded.