Power Minister Seeks Synergy On Local Equipment Manufacturing

The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, has challenged the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to strengthen collaboration aimed at boosting local production of electricity components, reducing imports, and conserving foreign exchange.

Adelabu said closer synergy between the two agencies would rely on coordinated research, effective data gathering, and shared planning frameworks, stressing that these measures were critical to delivering President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reform agenda in the power sector.

The minister made this known on Tuesday during a meeting with the management of the ECN at his office in Abuja, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Mr Bolaji Tunji.

Nigeria’s power sector, which has undergone several reforms since its privatisation in 2013, continues to grapple with structural challenges, including weak infrastructure, poor data management, and limited local manufacturing capacity.

Despite various government programmes aimed at expanding electricity access, most power equipment used in the country is still imported, leaving the sector vulnerable to foreign exchange fluctuations and global supply disruptions.

Adelabu said President Tinubu was determined to fix the power sector as a foundation for broader economic growth, adding that local manufacturing of critical electricity inputs would mark a major achievement of the administration.

“The ECN and the REA need to synergise. They need to come together, share research, and build data that will help the sector in the local production of electricity. We must do everything possible in this regard, as this will make Mr President happy that, in his time, we are manufacturing meters and other critical inputs for ourselves.

“Today, we are happy that our export is growing higher than our imports and we must encourage this and conserve our foreign exchange,” Adelabu said.”

The minister also underscored the importance of reliable data in sector planning, describing its absence as a major challenge to effective decision-making.

“The absence of data is a serious challenge to us as we cannot plan without data and you cannot get accurate information without data,” he said.

According to Adelabu, the Ministry of Power is working towards establishing a central data pool that will capture inputs from all key stakeholders across the electricity value chain, including generation and distribution companies. He urged the ECN to be fully integrated into the initiative.

“We are going to have a central data pool and you must be part of this process. All the stakeholders in the power sector, including the GenCos and the DisCos, will be brought into the data process and this is going to get around all the agencies of the ministry so that we can have reliable data for the sector.

“Research is also very important and critical to us, so your agency must also work closely with the Research Department of the ministry, as this will help us in our planning”, Adelabu said, adding that if this approach is adopted, many of the sector’s challenges can be effectively addressed.

To further improve coordination, the minister directed that the ECN be incorporated into the Power Sector Working Group, which meets quarterly, noting that the commission’s research mandate was essential to sector-wide decision-making.

In his response, the Director-General of the ECN, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, expressed the commission’s readiness to work closely with the Ministry of Power and other relevant agencies to realise President Tinubu’s vision of using the power sector as a catalyst for Nigeria’s economic turnaround.