By: Odeh Favour Adiya
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has challenged a recent policy pledge made by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, regarding the country’s electricity sector.
Obi had promised to increase Nigeria’s electricity generation and distribution by at least 10,000 megawatts within four years if elected president in 2027.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television, Onanuga argued that the proposal indicates a lack of familiarity with Nigeria’s current power infrastructure. According to the presidential spokesman, the country already possesses an installed generation capacity of approximately 13,500 megawatts.
“What people don’t know, and which unfortunately Peter Obi did not know when he came and said he’s going to generate 10,000 megawatts, is that we already have in Nigeria installed capacity of 13,500 megawatts,” Onanuga stated.
The presidential aide maintained that the primary challenges preventing stable electricity supply are structural rather than a lack of generation capacity. He cited inadequate gas supply, substantial legacy debts owed to gas suppliers, and technical limitations within the national transmission network as the core issues.
Onanuga explained that these gas supply constraints and outstanding debts, which run into trillions of naira, have left several power plants unable to operate at optimal levels.
“What are the problems? No gas. The players in the sector are owing the gas companies legacy debt of over N4tn, which has become the problem of this administration, and it is trying to clear it,” he added.
Defending the current administration’s track record, Onanuga asserted that power generation has seen improvements compared to the levels inherited in May 2023.
He pointed to the signing of the Electricity Act by President Bola Tinubu shortly after taking office as evidence of the administration’s commitment to sector reforms. The legislation decentralizes the sector by granting state governments the authority to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.
“To show that he meant business, the first thing he did when he came to office was sign the Electricity Act, which enables states to generate power, transmit power and distribute power,” Onanuga said.
While noting that some states have already started implementing the new framework to foster competition, Onanuga acknowledged that the national transmission grid remains a major bottleneck. He characterized the existing transmission infrastructure as outdated.
“The grid is outdated,” he remarked.
To remedy the transmission deficit, the presidential spokesman stated that the Federal Government has initiated reforms to modernize critical assets, including a proposal to establish the Grid Asset Management Company Limited.
In concluding his assessment of the sector’s current limitations, Onanuga admitted that full capacity is not being utilized, stating, “You know I said we have 13,500 megawatts installed; some of them are not really functioning.”
