The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved four new reforms to modernise Nigeria’s ageing national electricity grid and strengthen power supply.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, announced the measures after the FEC meeting at the State House, Abuja, chaired by President Bola Tinubu. He said the reforms aim to upgrade transmission infrastructure, improve supply reliability, and meet growing nationwide demand.
The first approval released ₦13 billion in compensation for right-of-way acquisitions under the Lagos Industrial Transmission Project, funded by a $238 million Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) loan. The project will provide stable, dedicated power to Lagos’s key industrial clusters, boosting manufacturing and job creation.
The other three approvals covered the procurement and installation of high-capacity transformers to replace obsolete units. The equipment contract, worth $34 million plus ₦5.2 billion in related costs, includes two 150MVA 330/132kV transformers, three 100MVA 132/33kV transformers, five 60MVA 132/33kV transformers, and two 30MVA 132/33kV transformers.
Adelabu said the upgrades would ease overloaded facilities, improve voltage stability, and expand transmission capacity. He noted that much of the grid has operated for more than 50 years, with many components weak and prone to failure.
He stressed that the approvals mark a key step in the Tinubu administration’s wider power sector reform drive to eliminate bottlenecks, cut system collapses, and support sustainable economic growth through better electricity access.