“By all means, you must have electricity and you will not pay for estimated billing anymore. A promise made will be a promise kept. If I don’t keep the promise and I come back for a second term, don’t vote for me. That is the truth, unless I give you adequate reasons why I couldn’t deliver.”
These were the words of then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu during the build up to the 2023 presidential poll. Nigerians will not forget in a hurry this unsolicited campaign promise made at a programme tagged “Business Lunch with Asiwaju,” on December 26, 2022 in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
It’s been three years out of a first tenure of four years and rather than improve, the protracted electricity crisis, though preceded the incumbent administration is appearing rather more complicated showing signs of no headway in the immediate and distant future.
Just recently, Tinubu drew the ire of Nigerians during his condolence visit to Jos, Plateau State at the start of his speech that he had just 10 minutes to leave the capital because the airport had no electricity to operate for much longer.
Recall that gunmen had, on March 29, attacked a community bar in Jos, killing about 28 people. In a separate incident, more than 50 people were killed when assailants invaded Kimakpa village in Bassa Local Council.
Incessant grid collapses
According to Statista, a global data service company, in 2023, more than 668 million people worldwide did not have access to electricity. Nigeria had the largest access deficit that year, at about 87 million people. According to a report by the World Bank Group, “the Nigerian electricity sector has not yet been able to meet the expectations of the Nigerian people. Over 80 million Nigerians currently do not have access to electricity.”
Data from a Punch report showed that between 2010 and 2022, the country suffered at least 222 partial and total grid collapses, while reports documented 12 more across 2024 and 2025.
From 2025 to 2026, the country’s national grid continues to experience frequent “system disturbances” and total collapse, primarily due to ageing infrastructure, gas supply shortages, and technical faults. This year, on January 23, the first collapse occurred around 1:00pm, with generation dropping to 0.00 MW from over 4,500 MW. On January 27, a second collapse occurred, just four days later, at approximately 10:48am, again plunging the country into a total blackout.
While some official reports noted an improvement compared to 2024, the grid still suffered several significant failures throughout 2025. On February 12, 2025, the first major collapse occurred at 11:34am, affecting all Ikeja Electric and Abuja Electric feeders. On March 7, 2025, a significant disturbance at 2:00pm caused generation to drop below 1,000 MW from a peak of over 5,200MW.
Again, on September 10, 2025, a total collapse at 11:23am was triggered by the tripping of a generation company, leading to a nationwide outage. On December 29, 2025, the final major incident of the year occurred just before the New Year, causing widespread blackouts.
State House shocking disconnect from national grid for N7bn solar
Nigerians woke to the shocking news earlier in the year that the Aso Rock Presidential Villa will be fully disconnecting from the national electricity grid by March (last month) 2026 following the completion of its solar power project.
This was revealed by the State House Permanent Secretary, Temitope Fashedemi in February while defending the State House 2026 budget before the Senate Committee on Special Duties at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
He told the committee, chaired by Senator Kaka Lawan (Borno Central), that the solar installation was completed towards the end of 2025 and had been undergoing testing since December.
“We are hopeful that maybe by March we’ll be able to do a full cutover,” Fashedemi said, adding that the transition would deliver significant cost savings for the government.
The Permanent Secretary cited the State House Medical Centre as proof of the project’s viability.
The facility, he argued, completed its own solar installation in May 2025 and has since operated entirely without generator power.
He stated, “I have to say that since that time, the generator in that State House Medical Centre has not been put on for one minute since May last year.
“Only a couple of months, we used three per cent from AEDC (Abuja Electricity Distribution Company), so the rest has been strictly from the solar and from the battery electric storage system.”
The Federal Government budgeted N10bn for the “Solarisation of the Villa with Solar Mini Grid” project in 2025.
The move that sparked widespread criticism from Nigerians who argued that the decision to install solar panels at Aso Rock amounted to an admission that the Tinubu administration could not fix Nigeria’s epileptic power supply.
The 2026 Appropriation Bill contains an additional N7bn allocation for the project.
However, the Director-General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Mustapha Abdullahi, defended the project in April 2025, describing it as unsustainable for the Villa to continue paying an estimated N47bn annual electricity bill.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had also cited the White House’s use of solar energy as justification for the initiative.
‘Nigeria loses $26.2bn annually to epileptic power supply’
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Global Centre for Law, Business, and Economy, Dr. George Nwangwu at the maiden Africa Climate Forum in 2023 said the lack of reliable power supply poses a significant challenge to both private citizens and businesses, resulting in annual economic losses estimated at $26.2 billion, equivalent to two per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“It is imperative for Africa, home to a large portion of the world’s impoverished population, to take energy-related issues seriously. If the energy transition in Africa is mishandled, it could pose an existential threat to the continent itself.”
“The lack of reliable power poses a significant challenge to both private citizens and businesses, resulting in annual economic losses estimated at $26.2 billion, equivalent to 2% of GDP”, the DG said.
He further highlighted the numerous opportunities that energy transition offers to Africa, saying the program aims to address the challenges affecting energy transition across the continent through debate and collaborative solutions.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Senator Seriake Dickson said Africa’s transition to sustainable clean energy will demand huge investments.
“Transitioning to a sustainable energy future is not a simple endeavor. Although Africa boasts 40% of the world’s renewable energy sources, the available financial resources indicate that we have only attracted 2% of them”, the former governor of Bayelsa State said.
Power challenges not without redemption – Experts
A seasoned electrical engineer in an interview with NewsClick Nigeria explained that the power crisis in Nigeria is not without redemption. According to him, the major challenge has always been the political will to sanitize the system and create enabling environment that will aide healthy market competition.
“This power issue is quite simple and the solution is not farfetched. First, there has to be a government willing to take the bull by horns. Initiating good reforms in the power sector is tantamount to stepping on powerful toes and a people-centric government must be willing to do this despite likely pushbacks,” Engineer Gbenga said.
Another expert cited a lack of meaningful investment in the energy sector. “There are several reasons why power supply in Nigeria is not reliable. One of the main reasons is a lack of investment in the energy sector. Nigeria’s power infrastructure is outdated and poorly maintained, which means that power outages are common.
“Power outages can be caused by factors such as technical faults, unavailability of gas, or sabotage. Moreover, the country faces challenges in sourcing sufficient gas to power the plants that generate power. Nigeria ranks among the world’s top ten gas producers, but it is still unable to meet the demands of its power plants due to the lack of infrastructure for gas transportation and the instability of the Niger Delta region.
The power sector is fraught with systemic corruption that has led to many uncompleted projects being abandoned. The lack of transparency provides an opportunity for officials to divert public funds set aside for energy projects for their own benefit. This has led to a shortage of skilled manpower, outdated technology, and poorly maintained equipment, leading to a vicious cycle of failure,” he explained.
Effects of Epileptic Power Supply on Nigeria
The effects of epileptic power supply in Nigeria are far-reaching and devastating. Homes and businesses that rely on electricity lose productivity since essential activities like powering machines, lighting, and air conditioning can’t be carried out efficiently. Firms regularly have to rely on alternative power sources like petrol or diesel-generated generators and at times solar-powered inverters to keep their operations running, and this leads to an increase in overall operating costs, besides the associated environmental challenges.
Some Nigerians who spoke to NewsClick Nigeria could not hide their frustrations on the epileptic nature of power supply in their areas.
A small business owner, Mrs Adams, shared that “the electricity situation in my area is very bad. It has actually worsened in recent months. Sometimes we won’t have light for two or three days straight.”
Damilola Juliana, a teacher in Lagos, shared how the epileptic electricity crisis has worsened in her area. She stated that in recent times, electricity in her area has worsened, causing frequent outages, and she cannot remember the last time they had stable electricity.
Mrs Adeyemi, a work from home mother described the electricity supply in her area as steadily declining, noting that it has worsened significantly in recent months. On average, she receives less than three hours of electricity daily, which she considers highly inadequate. To cope, she relies mainly on a power bank, spending modestly compared to generator users, but still facing limitations. She noted that the cost of alternatives has increased, especially due to frequent charging needs.
She said, “the unreliable supply has seriously affected her productivity, making it difficult to complete work tasks efficiently.”
She recounted instances of missed deadlines and reduced output. Adeyemi expressed low confidence in government efforts, stating they have not yielded visible improvements.
Miss Tola, a data analyst, said she has no reason to depend on public electricity due to the constant disappointment, as she needs power to work from home. She shared that, “I haven’t had reason to even track what light has been. I have a backup that serves me well, so I don’t bother with NEPA.”
Chinedu, a barber, shared that due to the decline in electricity supply in recent times, he often gets five to six hours daily. He said, “we get about 5–6 hours of electricity daily, often at inconsistent times. I often depend heavily on a petrol generator, spending a significant portion of my income monthly on fuel.”
Mrs Gift Olorunyomi, who works from home, shared how much she spends on electricity. She said, “I use an inverter and sometimes a generator. I spend around ₦40,000 to ₦60,000 monthly to maintain it, especially charging batteries and buying fuel.”
Blessing, a student, shared how the epileptic power supply has affected her education. She said, “the outages have negatively affected my academic productivity, limiting study time and access to online resources. I have severally missed assignment deadlines due to dead devices. And it is painful.”
Mrs Adams, a small business owner, shared how the decline in power supply has affected her business, causing her to lose customers. She said, “one major challenge is losing customers. There have been times I had to cancel appointments because there was no fuel or light.”
Mr John shared his frustration over how the persistent outages persistent outages has affected him, stating that the government is not doing anything to help its citizens.
He said, “the government isn’t doing anything to help the power supply in this country. If the people in power are actually willing to improve electricity supply in Nigeria, they would start with telling themselves the truth. Nigeria supplies constant electricity to other countries, meanwhile the supplier has unstable power supply.”
Minister’s belated apology
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, last month (March 24) apologised to Nigerians acknowledging the severe impact on households and economic activities nationwide.
The minister offered the apology during a press conference in Abuja amid growing public frustration over erratic power supply worsened by intense dry-season heat driving higher electricity demand.
“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,” the minister said.
Despite the disruption, the minister assured that efforts are underway to stabilise supply, expressing optimism that improvements would begin within a short timeframe.
“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.
He explained that ongoing repairs to key gas infrastructure, including facilities operated by Seplat Energy, are expected to restore gas supply to power plants, a critical factor in boosting electricity generation.
Adelabu further disclosed that a special committee has been set up to monitor compliance by gas producers with domestic supply obligations, noting that inadequate gas supply has long constrained power 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 systems would encourage greater supply from producers.
Reaffirming the Federal Government’s targets, the minister said plans remain on course to increase electricity generation to 6,000 megawatts before the end of 2026.
“Power generation will improve, transmission will improve, distribution will improve, and that 6,000 megawatts will be achieved before the end of this year, and Nigerians will be better for it,” he assured.
He added that the government is determined not only to restore supply but to surpass previous performance levels.
“If we could provide such service in 2025, this is 2026, we are willing to do more, to even do better,” Adelabu said.
Tinubu approves release of N3.3tn to clear power sector debts
President Tinubu last week approved a N3.3 trillion payment plan to settle outstanding debts in the nation’s electricity sector under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
“President Bola Tinubu has approved the payment plan to finally settle the outstanding debts under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme,” the statement said.
According to the presidency, the decision followed a final review of legacy debts that have plagued the power sector for over a decade.
The government said the liabilities accumulated between February 2015 and March 2025, adding that after verification, ₦3.3 trillion was agreed as a full and final settlement.
Implementation has already commenced, with 15 power generation companies signing settlement agreements valued at ₦2.3 trillion, the statement noted .
Onanuga said the federal government has raised ₦501 billion so far to fund the payments, out of which ₦223 billion has been disbursed, with further payments ongoing.