Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has apologised to Nigerians over the persistent electricity outages affecting homes, businesses, and industries across the country, assuring that improvements in power supply should begin within two weeks.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Adelabu acknowledged the severe impact of the outages, particularly as citizens grapple with intense dry-season heat.
“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,” he said.
The minister attributed the ongoing crisis to factors largely beyond immediate government control, including disruptions in gas supply and critical infrastructure challenges. He, however, emphasised that steps are being taken to address the situation.
According to Adelabu, a committee has been set up to coordinate response efforts, while engagements with gas suppliers have yielded commitments to restore supply. He also noted that timelines have been established for the repair of affected gas pipelines.
“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,” he stated.
The minister further disclosed that facilities linked to Seplat Energy are expected to resume operations soon, a development anticipated to boost gas availability to power generation companies.
Adelabu expressed optimism that the combined measures would ease the current strain on the national grid and lead to more stable electricity supply in the coming weeks.