The Federal Government has intensified efforts to attract private investment into Nigeria’s power sector, prioritising faster electricity metering, improved gas supply and stronger accountability across the electricity value chain.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, outlined the priorities in remarks delivered by the Ministry’s Acting Director of Press, Clement Ezeorah, at the NAEC Energy Conference 2026 in Lagos on October 7.
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The conference, organised by the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria, was held under the theme, “Access to Assets: Empowering Players and Driving Growth.”
Tegbe said the government was seeking to ensure that investments in energy infrastructure translate into reliable electricity supply and payments from consumers, rather than simply increasing installed generation capacity.
He cautioned that interventions must address the actual constraints affecting electricity delivery, whether inadequate gas supply, poor plant conditions, transmission limitations, distribution challenges or weak payment collection.
Adding generation capacity without resolving these bottlenecks, he warned, could tie up capital without improving consumers’ experience.
The minister identified four major investment opportunities: rehabilitating existing power plants and securing reliable gas supplies, developing dedicated electricity solutions for industrial clusters, modernising distribution infrastructure and expanding decentralised energy for productive activities.
He also called on gas producers to partner with power developers and industrial consumers on integrated gas-to-power projects.
According to the minister, investors should assess not only the direct returns from individual energy assets but also the wider economic activity that reliable electricity could unlock across manufacturing, logistics and services.
The ministry, he said, would pursue partnerships built around clear responsibilities, realistic delivery milestones and measurable service improvements.
Government reports 350,000 meters deployed
Providing further details during a panel discussion, the minister’s representative said approximately 350,000 electricity meters had been rolled out in the preceding three months.
The deployment is intended to help consumers pay for their actual electricity consumption instead of relying on estimated billing.
The government also plans to strengthen accountability by tracking the movement of gas into power generation, electricity through the transmission and distribution networks, and payments across the market.
The approach is aimed at reducing Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses, commonly known as ATC&C losses, which reflect electricity lost through technical inefficiencies, commercial irregularities and inadequate revenue collection.
However, the representative acknowledged that weak collection efficiency and liquidity shortages remained major challenges for distribution companies.
Some outstanding obligations, the representative noted, dated back to the sector’s 2013 privatisation.
The government is working to address these financial pressures while introducing a performance dashboard to enable stakeholders to monitor electricity service delivery.
Decentralised power to complement national grid
The government also reaffirmed its support for embedded and decentralised electricity generation, particularly for industrial facilities and businesses requiring more dependable power.
The minister’s representative stressed, however, that these solutions should complement rather than replace Nigeria’s interconnected national grid as electricity demand increases.
The government also identified vandalism of electricity infrastructure as a continuing obstacle to expansion.
Funds that could otherwise support new transmission lines and network improvements are sometimes diverted to repairing damaged equipment.
A public advocacy campaign is being pursued to encourage communities to protect electricity infrastructure, with the government arguing that vandalism ultimately undermines local electricity supply.
The renewed investment push highlights the government’s challenge of addressing several interconnected problems at once: gas availability, ageing infrastructure, inadequate metering, distribution losses and weak market liquidity.
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Whether the latest measures deliver lasting improvements will depend on implementation, the resolution of outstanding financial obligations and the ability of public and private-sector participants to translate investment commitments into reliable electricity for households and businesses.
