Politics
Analysis: Adelabu’s Failed Promises As Power Minister
On Monday, August 21, 2023, the former Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, assumed office with great enthusiasm to unravel the mysteries behind the nation’s power sector.
Chief Adelabu was full of confidence that he has the capacity to solve Nigeria’s power puzzle. Without blinking his eyes, he promised to give Nigerians stable, accessible, and improved power supply through the implementation of the Electricity Act.
The Electricity Act, signed in June 2023, provides a comprehensive, privatised, and contract-based legal and institutional framework aimed at attracting investment and enhancing efficiency in the power sector.
It mandates cost-reflective tariffs, promotes renewable energy integration, empowers states to regulate intrastate markets, and repeals the 2005 Act to address operational inefficiencies.
To impress his employer, President Bola Tinubu, who also pledged to give Nigerians a stable power supply, Adelabu wasted no time before announcing his plan to prioritise sector reforms, grid stability, and renewable energy to boost industrial and residential supply.
He was quick to pass a verdict on the sector by announcing to the world that despite having competent Engineers in Nigeria, the country generated 2,000 megawatts of electricity in 40 years.
In fact, to be more precise, Adelabu said: “In 1984, the country generated 2,000MW of electricity and this was not increased to 4,000MW until about 40 years later around 2022.” This also shows that the power generation in the country was hovering around 4,000MW before his appointment as the Minister of Power, in August 2023.
It is true that before his appointment as Minister of Power, issues of liquidity, lack of investment in infrastructure, and shortfalls in market remittances were prominent. However, as a former deputy governor, operations, of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) one thought that these issues would be speedily addressed. Unfortunately, the issues persisted even after his exit.
ADELABU’S FAILED PROMISES
INCREASED POWER GENERATION: conscious of the fact that the power supply in the country was grossly inadequate, Adelabu promised to increase power generation to 6,000MW by December 2024, to stimulate businesses and enhance the livelihoods of Nigerians.
He made the promise amid persistent liquidity shortfalls, unpaid debts, inadequate gas supply, lack of investment, market inefficiencies and other numerous challenges confronting the sector.
Sadly, at the set timeline in December, 2024, Adelabu failed to fulfil his promise to Nigerians. In 2025, he still couldn’t achieve the target. Even though the sector achieved peak generation of 6,003MW in March, 2025, this could only be sustained for a few hours.
Nigerians continue to suffer chronic energy poverty even after almost three years of being at the helm of affairs. Currently, power generation in the country hovers around 4,000MW, after his exit, despite installed capacity of 15,500MW.
The current generation capacity was lower than what was required to meet the estimated load demand of 30,000MW, with the demand expected to grow to 45,662MW by 2030.
For a country of over 200 million people, the 4,000MW of power generation is grossly inadequate. According to industry experts, about 88,000-100,000MW of electricity is needed to meet industrial, economic and population demands in Nigeria.
GRID STABILITY: Adelabu promised to fix the issue of persistent national grid collapse, which he described as a national embarrassment to the country. However, right under his watch as the Minister of Power, the national grid collapsed about 21 times.
For instance, the national grid collapsed about three (3) times in 2023. It collapsed on September 14, September 19 and December 11, respectively in 2023.
The national grid also collapsed about twelve (12) times in 2024. It collapsed on February 4, March 28, April 15, July 6, August 5, October 14, October 15, October 19, October 22, November 5, November 7, and December 11, 2024.
The sector under his watch recorded a national grid collapse about four (4) times in 2025. It collapsed on February 12, March 7, September 10, and December 29, 2025.
In 2026, the story is not any better as the grid has collapsed about two (2) times since the beginning of the year. It collapsed on January 23 and January 27, respectively.
This is despite constituting a six-member Committee to advise the Federal Government on necessary solutions to make the national grid robust and reliable.
