FG slams past administrations for power woes

The Federal Government through the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has blamed past administrations for the power challenges facing the country.

Adelabu said former Nigerian Presidents and military rulers failed to do things differently, but were expecting different results.

A statement by the minister’s media aide, Bolaji Tunji, on Wednesday, said Adelabu made the comments while hosting the World Bank delegation in his office in Abuja.

According to the minister, the current government is laying a solid foundation for a stable, reliable, and effective power supply and is willing to partner with international agencies and reputable organisations to achieve the objectives.

He blamed the “neglect of the sector by the past administrations” for the rot and the degeneration that the sector is passing through, noting, however, that there has been significant improvement since President Bola Tinubu took over in May 2023.

Recall that Tinubu took over from Muhammadu Buhari, who succeeded Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. The Bayelsa-born Jonathan took over from Late Umar Yar’adua, who succeeded Olusegun Obasanjo.

Adelabu argued that past efforts to transform the sector did not amount to anything.

“We actually have a past that we are not proud of. Over the years, we have only been paying lip service to transforming the power sector. We have not worked on the talk. Previous administrations have kept on doing the same thing all the time, and you cannot get different results for that, which is why we have decided to do things differently this time. In all the segments across the sector, we must run away from the past,” he was quoted.

The minister lamented the neglect of power infrastructure, which he said contributed to the present problems in the sector.

“How will you explain the kind of infrastructure that we put together for our transmission network across the country – thousands of kilometres of powerline, thousands of power transformers, hundreds of thousands of distribution transformers that we have not maintained over time, and expect them to keep sustaining our energy supply? It is not possible.

How do we allow our people to vandalise infrastructure and expect stable electricity?

“How do you have a sector with over 12 million customers, and our meter is not more than six million, and we expect to have a stable industry? No, it’s not possible. So, what has happened with past governments?

“In 1984, when the military was in power here, we achieved 2,000 megawatts. Between 1984 and 2023, it took us 40 years to add 2,000MW. Now we have an average of 5,800MW of generation within one and a half years since we came to the office.

“What I’m saying is that if the past administrations had been adding things like this, we would not be where we are today. And that is why I said that President Tinubu is actually laying the kind of foundation that we need for our country to grow,” Adelabu emphasised.

Adelabu blamed the Buhari administration for allegedly failing to implement the Siemens contract since it was signed in 2019.

“We entered into the Siemens contract in 2019. We never lifted a finger until 2023 when this government came on board. So, you can now imagine since this President came in, and now look at the mileage we have achieved. Even in this Siemens project, the pilot phase is almost completed, and that is in less than two years, when in four years we didn’t do anything,” Adelabu said while expressing optimism that the future is bright for the sector.

He claimed that the challenges of the power sector were of utmost concern to Tinubu, and he had given total support to all efforts at making the sector work.

Adelabu commended the support the sector has received from the World Bank and other partners and implored them to continue in that spirit to ensure the current administration’s investments succeed.

“We’ve seen your support in transmission, we’ve seen your support in distribution, we have seen your support in renewable energy, almost in every facet, even in generation,” he added.