The Federal Government is targeting faster electricity metering, more reliable gas supply and improved distribution infrastructure as it seeks to attract investment and strengthen power delivery across Nigeria.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said existing energy assets would deliver greater value only when they translate into reliable electricity supplied to customers who pay for it.
Tegbe, represented by the Ministry’s Acting Director of Press, Clement Ezeorah, spoke at the 2026 NAEC Energy Conference in Lagos, organised by the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria.
He warned that investment must address the actual constraints in the electricity value chain, including fuel supply, generation capacity, transmission, distribution and payment collection, rather than adding capacity without improving service.
The minister identified opportunities for investors in rehabilitating existing power plants, improving gas supply, upgrading distribution infrastructure and developing dedicated power solutions for industrial estates, ports and agro-processing centres.
He also urged gas producers, power developers and industrial users to pursue integrated gas-to-power projects, while identifying distributed energy for irrigation, refrigeration and small-scale manufacturing as another investment opportunity.
At a panel session, the minister’s representative disclosed that about 350,000 electricity meters had been deployed in the preceding three months to help consumers pay according to actual consumption rather than estimated bills.
He said the government was also working to address collection inefficiencies and liquidity challenges in the distribution segment, including legacy debts dating back to the 2013 privatisation of the power sector.
A performance dashboard is being introduced to enable stakeholders to assess service delivery, while authorities plan to track gas supply to power plants, electricity transmission through the grid and payments across the market to reduce aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses.
The minister’s representative said embedded and decentralised generation would complement, rather than replace, the national grid as electricity demand increases.
He also identified vandalism of power infrastructure as a constraint on expansion, noting that resources intended for new transmission lines were being diverted to replace damaged equipment.
The government is pursuing public advocacy to encourage communities to protect electricity infrastructure and recognise the impact of vandalism on their power supply.