Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has publicly apologised to Nigerians over the persistent power outages that have plunged homes and businesses into hardship amid the scorching dry-season heat.
The apology came during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, following growing public anger over erratic electricity supply across the country.
In a rare admission of the severity of the crisis, the minister acknowledged the widespread impact of the blackouts on daily life and economic activities.
“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.
“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 disruptions, Adelabu assured Nigerians that improvements in electricity supply are on the way, giving a two-week timeline for recovery.
“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—particularly those involving facilities operated by Seplat Energy—are expected to restore gas supply to power plants, which are critical to electricity generation in Nigeria.
To address the root causes, the minister disclosed that a special committee has been established to ensure gas producers meet their domestic supply obligations.
“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.
Adelabu also pointed to improved payment structures as a way to encourage consistent gas supply, noting that the government is working round the clock to stabilise the sector.
“We are working on it 24/7 to make sure that we go back to the trajectory of 2025, when Nigerians commended us for a good job well done,” he said.
Looking ahead, the minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s target to boost electricity generation to 6,000 megawatts before the end of 2026, describing the current outage as a temporary setback.
“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 administration is determined not only to recover lost ground but to surpass previous achievements.
“If we could provide such service in 2025, this is 2026, we are willing to do more, to even do better,” Adelabu said.
Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to grapple with longstanding challenges, including gas supply shortages, ageing infrastructure, transmission constraints, and liquidity issues across the power value chain.
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