Power Minister Apologises to Nigerians for Outages

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has apologised to Nigerians over the persistent electricity outages recorded in the past month, acknowledging the severe impact on households and economic activities nationwide.

The minister offered the apology during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, amid growing public frustration over erratic power supply worsened by intense dry-season heat driving higher electricity demand.

In a candid admission of the crisis, Adelabu said, “I want to apologise to Nigerians, officially now, coming from me as the Minister of Power, for this temporary issue that is leading to hardship being experienced, especially during this dry season, where there is so much heat everywhere.

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“Businesses are being affected, schools have been affected, and industries have been affected. It is not our wish to find ourselves in this situation, but it is due to some factors that are actually beyond our control.”

Despite the disruption, the minister assured that efforts are underway to stabilise supply, expressing optimism that improvements would begin within a short timeframe.

“I can tell you, with the committee that we have set up, and commitments from gas suppliers, and the timeline for repair of the gas pipelines, two weeks from now, we should start seeing improvements in supply. Two weeks,” Adelabu said.

He explained that ongoing repairs to key gas infrastructure, including facilities operated by Seplat Energy, are expected to restore gas supply to power plants, a critical factor in boosting electricity generation.

Adelabu further disclosed that a special committee has been set up to monitor compliance by gas producers with domestic supply obligations, noting that inadequate gas supply has long constrained power generation.

“We already have a committee that is working on this to track compliance with the domestic supply obligations of these gas companies to our power plants,” he said, adding that improved payment systems would encourage greater supply from producers.

Reaffirming the Federal Government’s targets, the minister said plans remain on course to increase electricity generation to 6,000 megawatts before the end of 2026.

“Power generation will improve, transmission will improve, distribution will improve, and that 6,000 megawatts will be achieved before the end of this year, and Nigerians will be better for it,” he assured.

He added that the government is determined not only to restore supply but to surpass previous performance levels.

“If we could provide such service in 2025, this is 2026, we are willing to do more, to even do better,” Adelabu said.