The Senate has confirmed Joseph Tegbe as Nigeria’s Minister of Power following his screening at plenary on Wednesday.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, Tegbe’s confirmation came after extensive deliberations by the Senate Committee of the Whole, where lawmakers raised concerns over the country’s persistent electricity crisis.
Senators noted that although Nigeria’s installed electricity generation capacity exceeds 13,000 megawatts, actual supply rarely goes beyond 4,500MW due to weak transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Responding to questions during the screening, Tegbe expressed confidence that Nigerians would begin to see noticeable improvements in the power sector within three to six months.
He said President Bola Tinubu expected measurable progress and pledged immediate reforms aimed at tackling the country’s longstanding electricity challenges.
“My promise to Nigeria and to this chamber is that Nigerians will see visible improvement in the sector,” Tegbe said.
The minister-designate promised to carry out independent diagnostics of the sector while strengthening transparency and accountability across public institutions.
He also pledged stronger collaboration between the Ministry of Power, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and other stakeholders.
Tegbe said Nigeria’s electricity challenges went beyond technical failures, identifying governance issues, poor capitalisation, gas supply shortages, commercial inefficiencies, and sustainability concerns as major problems affecting the sector.
He described repeated national grid collapses as evidence of weak transmission systems, ageing infrastructure, unstable frequency control, and poor regulatory enforcement.
According to him, gas shortages, transmission bottlenecks, and weak coordination continue to limit electricity generation despite the country’s installed capacity.
Tegbe pledged to stabilise the national grid, modernise infrastructure, improve commercial frameworks, and enforce accountability across the electricity value chain.
He added that future tariff reforms would protect vulnerable households while ensuring sustainability, investor confidence, and improved efficiency in the sector.
The minister-designate also promised support for sub-national investments in mini-grids, solar energy expansion, and increased state participation under the Electricity Act.
Lawmakers warned that vested interests, including generator importers and underperforming electricity distribution companies, could resist reforms aimed at improving the sector.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio urged Tegbe to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks and focus on delivering lasting solutions instead of temporary contract-based maintenance approaches.
Akpabio stressed that stable electricity was critical to industrialisation, economic growth, national security, and Nigeria’s broader development goals.
He also criticised what he described as exploitative billing practices by pay-TV operators and electricity providers, questioning why Nigerians were charged for unused services while consumers in other countries enjoyed pay-as-you-go systems.
The Senate President thanked President Tinubu for the nomination, describing Tegbe as the right choice for the role.
