Tegbe rules out electricity tariff hike

Tegbe rules out electricity tariff hike

…performs groundbreaking for 17.7MW mini-grid project in Ibadan

AJAGBE ADEYEMI TESLIM

SPONSORED BY: H&H

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has declared that the federal government has no plan to increase electricity tariffs, urging Nigerians to disregard what he described as misinformation.

Speaking on Thursday at the commencement of five interconnected mini-grid projects with a combined capacity of 17.7 megawatts in Oyo State, Tegbe noted that the government’s priority was to achieve round-the-clock electricity supply, beginning with three proposed energy zones: the Lagos-Ogun corridor, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridor, and the Benin-Enugu-Port Harcourt corridor.

The projects are designed to improve electricity access in communities across Akinyele, Ido, Ibadan North, Egbeda and Lagelu Local Government Areas of the state.

The projects comprise the Bola, Jiboye, Molade-Adelubi, Ogo Oluwa and Sooko-elega interconnected mini-grids, supported by a 17.74-megawatt battery energy storage system.

According to the Minister, the initiative is expected to improve electricity supply to homes and businesses, reduce dependence on generators, extend working hours and create a more favourable environment for investment and job creation.

He described the initiative as part of the Federal Government’s broader Renewed Hope Agenda to expand electricity access nationwide, noting that similar interventions supported by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) had been implemented in communities across Kwara, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Adamawa and Kaduna states.

The Minister acknowledged the contributions of the REA, Paras Energy and Natural Resources Development Limited, the project developer, the World Bank, which provided the financing, and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.

He also commended the Oyo State Government, traditional rulers, community leaders and host communities for their cooperation, while paying tribute to the Olubadan of Ibadanland for his support towards the project’s realisation.

Tegbe further disclosed that the government planned to strengthen the national grid across the eastern and western corridors, including strategic generation and transmission locations such as Funtua, Kainji, Gwagwalada, Gombe, Makurdi, Ajaokuta, Ikot Ekpene, Benin and Egbin.

He said the objective was to extend improved stability and reliability beyond the initial energy zones and make 24-hour electricity supply a national reality.

The Minister formally flagged off the five mini-grid projects on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, expressing the hope that their successful completion would strengthen livelihoods and expand economic opportunities for residents of the beneficiary communities.

He described the investment as an example of collaboration between government, private enterprise and development partners to address Nigeria’s electricity challenges.

In his remarks, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr. Abba Aliyu, said the 17.7MW Ibadan project reflects the scale and ambition of the new generation of distributed renewable energy projects being developed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He explained that REA’s priority is increasingly centred on deploying generation capacity where it can deliver the greatest economic impact while leveraging private-sector investment and sustainable operating models.

“This groundbreaking is about more than 17.7 megawatts of new generation capacity. It is about what that capacity will enable. Reliable electricity means longer operating hours for businesses, lower dependence on expensive self-generation, increased productivity, new investment and ultimately more jobs and economic opportunities,” he said.

Aliyu added that the Ibadan project forms part of a much larger pipeline of investments being facilitated by the Agency.

“Across Nigeria, we are demonstrating that distributed energy can move beyond addressing electricity access alone to becoming an important pillar of electricity reliability and economic development. From the interconnected mini-grids we have already broken ground on in different parts of the country to the new generation capacity now coming into Ibadan, our objective remains consistent: reliable electricity that powers productive economies.”

Upon completion, the Ibadan project will include the deployment of 18 new transformers to strengthen electricity distribution within the beneficiary communities.

REA is also advancing an additional 17.7MW of projects in Ibadan, targeted at strategic institutions and economic centres including the University College Hospital, University of Ibadan and The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Together, these interventions demonstrate a deliberate strategy to build clusters of reliable generation capacity around communities, public institutions and centres of economic activity.

The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, commended the Federal Government for the intervention, noting that improved electricity supply would positively affect businesses, households and livelihoods across the beneficiary communities.

He expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the infrastructure projects being implemented across Oyo State and called for their timely completion.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited, Yashwant Kumar, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to delivering the project efficiently and to the required standards, noting that reliable electricity would have a transformative impact on residents and businesses within the project area.

The Ibadan groundbreaking reinforces the Federal Government and REA’s commitment to a power-sector strategy in which new generation capacity, stronger networks, decentralised energy infrastructure and private-sector investment work together to improve reliability of supply.

For REA, the ultimate measure of success is not simply the number of megawatts installed, but the economic activity those megawatts unlock businesses powered, productive hours expanded, jobs supported, investments attracted and communities transformed through reliable electricity.