Nigeria’s newly appointed Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has declared that the country’s persistent electricity crisis stems primarily from governance failures rather than technical deficiencies.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Minister Tegbe emphasized that while technical issues exist across the generation, transmission, and distribution value chains, they represent only a fraction of the sector’s problems. He identified poor governance, coordination gaps, and institutional weaknesses as the dominant obstacles hindering reliable power supply.
“The bigger challenge is governance,” Tegbe stated. “No single agency, department, or unit can solve this sector’s problems alone. We must address coordination and governance challenges across the entire electricity value chain.”
The Minister’s remarks come shortly after his swearing-in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He acknowledged decades-old structural issues in the sector but expressed confidence in ongoing reforms and stakeholder collaboration to deliver visible improvements in power supply.
Minister Tegbe commended recent efforts by agencies such as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and called for sector-wide collaboration involving government, private operators, regulators, and consumers. He assured Nigerians that the administration is implementing comprehensive reforms aimed at tackling liquidity issues, enhancing coordination, and strengthening institutional frameworks.
“President Tinubu’s leadership has already begun to yield results in the past few weeks through better stakeholder coordination. We are committed to sustained progress, even if it will not be dramatic overnight,” he added.
The Minister urged all stakeholders to support the government’s initiatives, stressing that fixing governance structures is key to unlocking the sector’s full potential and delivering reliable electricity to Nigerian homes and businesses.