The federal government has announced plans to achieve an electricity generation capacity of 8,000 megawatts by the end of President Bola Tinubu’s first term in 2027. Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, disclosed the target at the sixth edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing Series in Abuja
In the minister’s words, Now that we have created the trajectory, if we sustain this trajectory, I can assure you that before the end of this administration in 2027, we should be able to generate and distribute nothing less than 8,000 megawatts of power, Adelabu said.
He stated that if past administrations had created a road map for the power sector, the country would have been generating up to 30,000 megawatts of electricity.
“What I mean to say is that past administrations had their own positives. But if they had been adding at least 1,000 megawatts of power since 1999, we’d be talking about 26,000 megawatts plus 2,000 plus 4,000.” That would be about 30,000 megawatts of power in Nigeria today. But we cannot keep dwelling on the past. It’s the way forward.”
The minister specifically said the federal government’s efforts are yielding progress, with many Nigerians now having access to adequate power. “150 million people have access to adequate electricity in Nigeria,” he said.
The minister said the progress was dependent on Nigeria’s participation in the “Mission 300” initiative of the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), targeted at providing electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030. “I’m happy to tell you that out of the 300 million Africans that the World Bank and AfDB aim to reach, Nigeria is on course to account for no less than 25 percent, which translates to about 75 million Nigerians. When we presented our compact, they agreed with us.
“When you’re extending access to the 300 million people under this initiative, let’s not concentrate solely on renewable energy, which is more appropriate for rural communities,” Adelabu said.
“Strengthening grid infrastructure is equally crucial so that those connected to the grid can enjoy reliable power. Otherwise, how do we explain the growing number of Nigerian companies opting out of the national grid to generate captive power
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