May 10, (THEWILL) — The new Minister of Power, Olasunkanmi Tegbe, during his screening and later confirmation by the Senate recently, assured Nigerians that the era of national grid collapses, erratic power supply and sabotage within the power sector would become a thing of the past following a new template he would unveil once he settles into office.
Perhaps to ward off the lamentations by Senator after Senator who spoke about the deplorable state of the power sector and the attendant collapse of many businesses as a result, Tegbe, “pledged a 100-day reform window aimed at stabilising the grid and introducing a public performance dashboard to allow Nigerians to track progress and hold the ministry accountable”. Nigerians should hold him and his officers accountable in three months if there were no tangible results.
“If there are no results in three months, there will be none in six. Nigerians should hold us accountable. Grid collapse is not accidental; it reflects deeper structural problems,” he said.
For a sector that is plagued by value chair disruptions ranging from vandalism to poor gas supply, outright sabotage by “generator mafia,” and a serious liquidity crisis said to be to the tuneN6 trillion, there is no gainsaying the fact that the sector needs not just an overhaul but a clean break from the gloomy past.
For instance, available data shows that between 2021 and 2025, over 200 incidents of sabotage—including stolen cables and destroyed towers—cost the government N88 billion in repairs. The result is lack of grid stability and economic underdevelopment in the long run. Sabotage is part of the elaborate network of vested interests benefiting from the disorder in the system, particularly from within government circles. In one word, corruption is the major problem. That is ‘official corruption’ involving some Ministers themselves in collusion with dubious stakeholders.
It may be by coincidence that while Tegbe was undergoing screening at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, a former Minister under the so-called anti-corruption administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Mamman Saleh, 2019 – 2012, was on May 7, 2026, convicted and found guilty by a Federal High Court in Abuja for diverting N33.8 billion in public funds, which included funds related to Mambilla and Zungeru hydroelectric power plants projects.
He spent the money on acquiring landed properties in Abuja and abroad. Indeed, a power Minister under the first elected democratic government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr. Olu Agunloye is still undergoing prosecution over alleged N6billion Mambilla Power plant fraud.
There is more. Under the same Obasanjo regime, a Mass Metering Programme fraud estimated at over N40 billion is still undergoing litigation. An alleged fraudulent contractor colluded with some banks to commit the heist.
Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria, requested courts to freeze 157 accounts of Meter Asset Providers (MAPs) over suspicions of diverting intervention funds, with reports indicating collusion involving some banks and Distribution Companies, DisCos.
Recall that while these alleged massive looting were going on within the government, Ministers after Ministers had made similar promises to sanitise the system and perform wonders in the power sector, which through the years has continued to shamefully power supply of between 4,000 and 5,000 wattage.
The late Minister of Power under Obasanjo, Bola Ige swore during his screening at the Senate to turn the Ministry around in six months. He failed and was redeployed as Attorney- General and Minister of Justice. Another Minister, Professor Chinedu Nebo, claimed that “witches and wizards and demons,” were destroying the power sector and promised to not deal with them. Similarly, former Lagos governor and Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola, under the Buhari administration boasted during campaigns against then ex-President Goodluck Jonathan presidency that the challenges facing power can be solved in six weeks. He got in there and spent years with no tangible results; power supply stagnated.
Even so, we acknowledge the point Tegbe made when he said, “There are elements that do not want the system to work because they benefit from its failure. We will take them on.” How he will do it, he did not say. But that is where the real problem plaguing the sector lies, the sabotage within. He should summon the courage and do it.
