The Minister of Power, Chief Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has formally commenced duties at the Federal Ministry of Power, calling for deeper cooperation among agencies in the electricity sector as part of efforts to accelerate ongoing reforms and improve service delivery.
In a statement issued by Ndidi Mbah, General Manager, Public Affairs at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Minister made the appeal on Tuesday during his first meeting with chief executive officers and heads of agencies and parastatals under the Ministry of Power in Abuja, where he outlined key priorities aimed at strengthening coordination across the electricity value chain.
He said the success of government reforms in the electricity sector would depend largely on the ability of institutions to operate with a shared purpose and improved communication, noting that no single agency could independently resolve the sector’s longstanding challenges.
Outlining the administration’s focus areas under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Tegbe listed expansion of generation capacity, reinforcement of transmission infrastructure, improvement of sector liquidity and increased investment in renewable energy as key priorities.
While acknowledging existing progress, he stressed the need for sustained effort to meet set targets.
“We have made considerable progress, but we are not yet where we want to be because we have not met the targets set for us. I believe that by approaching things differently, we can achieve and even surpass those targets,” he said.
The minister said the challenges in the power sector are not solely technical, adding that governance and coordination gaps continue to affect performance across the value chain.
“This sector faces serious challenges. Technical issues account for only a fraction of those challenges. The larger challenge is governance. No agency, no department, no unit can solve this sector’s problems alone,” he said.
He urged agencies under the ministry to strengthen synergy and adopt a unified approach in implementing sector policies, stressing the importance of collaboration, information sharing and coordinated action.
A key highlight of the meeting was Tegbe’s commendation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) following its swift handling of a recent feeder outage that disrupted supply.
He explained that he issued a directive for the fault to be resolved within 12 hours and received confirmation of restoration within the timeframe, noting that the development reflected improved responsiveness within the system.
“TCN, I am happy with you. The feeder station went off and there was a series of communications. I gave a directive that it should be fixed within 12 hours. By 5:20 p.m., I received confirmation that it had been restored,” he said.
Tegbe added that the prompt resolution demonstrated the impact of coordinated action and effective communication among operators in the sector.
He also disclosed plans to introduce a performance-based incentive framework to encourage efficiency, innovation and improved service delivery across agencies under the ministry, while assuring stakeholders of continued engagement in the reform process.
The meeting was attended by heads of major power sector institutions including the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), FGN Power Company and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), among others.
