The new Minister of Power, Olasunkanmi Tegbe, on Wednesday, assured Nigerians that the era of repeated national grid collapses, erratic electricity supply, and persistent vandalism of power infrastructure would soon be brought under control, pledging urgent reforms to stabilise the country’s troubled power sector.
Tegbe gave the assurance during his screening before the Senate plenary in Abuja, where he was later confirmed as power minister following intense questioning from lawmakers over the state of the electricity sector.
The confirmation followed a rigorous screening session presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, during which lawmakers pressed the nominee for firm timelines, transparency and a clear reform roadmap to stabilise electricity supply and restore investor confidence.
The Senate also handed him what lawmakers described as a blunt mandate to deliver rapid and measurable improvements in a sector long crippled by grid collapses, weak transmission infrastructure and a deepening liquidity crisis estimated in trillions of naira.
In a rare show of bipartisan concern, senators warned that Nigerians had grown tired of promises, insisting that Tegbe must demonstrate visible results within months or risk losing public trust.
Leading the charge, Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno North) described the appointment as timely but stressed that the scale of the sector’s dysfunction required decisive and urgent intervention.
He decried the recurring collapse of the national grid, calling it a major setback to Nigeria’s industrial ambitions, and blamed transmission bottlenecks for the inability to evacuate generated power effectively.
