The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Joseph Tegbe as Nigeria’s new Minister of Power after he successfully scaled through screening during plenary.
His confirmation came after lawmakers deliberated extensively on his nomination and the state of the country’s struggling electricity sector.
During the session, senators expressed concern over Nigeria’s persistent electricity challenges despite the country’s installed generation capacity exceeding 13,000 megawatts.
The lawmakers noted that actual electricity supply still fluctuates around 4,500MW due to weak transmission systems, distribution inefficiencies, and recurring infrastructure failures across the sector.
Responding to questions from lawmakers, Tegbe assured Nigerians that noticeable improvements in electricity supply would begin to emerge within the next three to six months. He pledged to immediately begin reforms aimed at addressing longstanding problems in power generation, transmission and distribution, while promising a more transparent and accountable management structure within the sector.
“My promise to Nigeria and to this chamber is that Nigerians will see visible improvement in the sector,” Tegbe told senators during the confirmation exercise.
The minister-designate acknowledged that Nigeria’s electricity crisis extends beyond technical problems, stressing that issues such as governance failures, inadequate capitalisation, poor commercial structures, unstable gas supply, and weak regulatory enforcement have continued to undermine progress in the industry.
According to him, recurring national grid collapses reflect the deep structural weaknesses in the country’s transmission network, including ageing infrastructure, unstable frequency control and poor coordination among stakeholders. He added that transmission bottlenecks and gas shortages have continued to prevent the country from maximising its installed electricity generation capacity.
Tegbe also pledged to conduct independent diagnostics of the power sector to identify critical areas requiring urgent intervention. He promised to strengthen collaboration among the Ministry of Power, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and other industry stakeholders to ensure improved efficiency.
As part of his reform agenda, the new minister promised to stabilise the national grid, modernise outdated infrastructure, improve commercial frameworks, and enforce accountability across the electricity value chain. He further assured lawmakers that future tariff reforms would protect vulnerable Nigerians while maintaining sustainability and investor confidence in the sector.
The minister-designate also vowed to encourage sub-national participation in electricity generation through mini-grid projects, solar energy expansion, and increased state government involvement under the Electricity Act.
He said innovation, broad consultations, and difficult policy decisions would be necessary to resolve Nigeria’s prolonged electricity crisis.
Lawmakers, however, warned that powerful interests benefiting from the sector’s inefficiencies could resist reforms. Some senators specifically pointed to generator importers and underperforming electricity distribution companies as groups that may oppose meaningful changes capable of improving public power supply.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio urged Tegbe to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks and focus on delivering lasting solutions rather than temporary contract-based maintenance approaches.
Akpabio stressed that stable electricity remains critical to Nigeria’s industrialisation, economic growth, national security and overall development.
The Senate President also criticised exploitative billing systems by electricity providers and pay-TV operators, questioning why Nigerians are often charged for services they do not fully consume. He called for stronger consumer protection measures, especially against estimated electricity billing and unfair subscription deductions.
Akpabio thanked President Bola Tinubu for nominating Tegbe, describing him as the right person for the sensitive national assignment.
