The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has sensationally declared that the current power outages across the country are due to factors beyond the government’s control.
Adelabu made this known on Tuesday during a press conference in Abuja, where he also apologised to Nigerians over the persistent electricity disruptions recorded in the past month.
He acknowledged that the outages have worsened hardship for households, businesses, schools, and industries, especially amid increased heat during the dry season.
The apology comes as public frustration grows over erratic power supply across the country, with rising temperatures driving higher electricity demand.
Adelabu said: “I want to apologise to Nigerians, officially now, coming from me as the Minister of Power, for this temporary issue that is leading to hardship being experienced, especially during this dry season, where there is so much heat everywhere.
“Businesses are being affected, schools have been affected, and industries have been affected. It is not our wish to find ourselves in this situation, but it is due to some factors that are actually beyond our control.”
He assured Nigerians that improvements in electricity supply are expected within weeks.
“I can tell you, with the committee that we have set up, and commitments from gas suppliers, and the timeline for repair of the gas pipelines, two weeks from now, we should start seeing improvements in supply. Two weeks,” Adelabu said.
The minister explained that the government has visibility on the timeline for key repairs, particularly those involving facilities operated by Seplat Energy, which are expected to restore gas supply to power plants.
He added that a special committee has been constituted to monitor compliance with domestic gas supply obligations by producers, a major issue affecting electricity generation.
“We already have a committee that is working on this to track compliance with the domestic supply obligations of these gas companies to our power plants,” he said, adding that improved payment flows would further incentivise supply.
Adelabu said efforts are ongoing to stabilise the power sector despite structural challenges.
“We are working on it 24/7 to make sure that we go back to the trajectory of 2025, when Nigerians commended us for a good job well done,” he said.
He also reiterated the Federal government’s target to increase electricity generation to 6,000 megawatts before the end of 2026, describing the current situation as a temporary setback.
