The Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, has provided reassurance to the Nigerian people that there will be a gradual increase in the availability of electricity.
The minister’s affirmation follows a persisting issue of inadequate electricity provision and the recent occurrence of a failure in the country’s power distribution network on Sunday.
Adelabu, who spoke through his media aide, Bolaji Tunji said, “The blackout we have been experiencing is based on the fact that gas supply to the GenCos has reduced and that was due to indebtedness and the minister is looking into it. His concern is to ensure that we have more regular supply, incremental regular supply of electricity across the nation,”
Tunji suggests that the minister is not offering a miraculous solution as the issues have persisted for many years, but the government is committed to altering the prevailing situation.
He said, “He is not promising a miracle, but he is saying that there should be incremental supply of electricity, and people would see there is improvement. This is not a problem that came overnight. It has been there over the years. But he is desirous of making an impact and changing the narratives. It is not that he wants to perform a miracle, but he wants to ensure that we have incremental energy supply across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.”
When questioned about the anticipated timeframe for a shift in the situation, the media assistant said, “I won’t be able to commit to any particular time because this is not like a road construction. It takes planning and a lot of effort. For example, if you want to erect a tower or build a substation, you order the items needed and they are not what you can pick off the shelf.
“It is something that should be planned for. And like the minister had always said, what Nigerians need is to see improvements in power supply and that is the assurance he is giving, that there must be improvements. Definitely, we envisage an improvement.”
He stated that the shortage of gas resources has had an adverse effect on the production of power, revealing the formation of a committee to tackle this issue.
“If the DisCos are not supplying enough power, it is because they are not getting enough from the GenCos; and the GenCos could not give them enough because their production has been reduced, based on the fact that they have limited gas supplies.
“The minister is setting up a committee of all stakeholders to look at how to tackle this problem to ensure we don’t have this kind of situation again,”
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