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Paul Akomolehin, South West
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu on Sunday disclosed that he receives threat calls from unknown forces in the power industry who are not happy with his policies which he noted to have been yielding positive results.
Adelabu while featuring on a live radio programme in Ibadan where he was the guest on ‘Political Circuit’, said the interview was also in line to celebrate his one year in office as Minister of Power.
Speaking on the forces and cabals in the Power Sector. Adelabu said, “There is no problem that is not insurmountable. There will be resistance, people stand in your way, saboteurs and others. Let me say this for the first time. I receive threats calls.
“I’m the 49th Minister in the Ministry of Power, the past ministers were probably bullied and intimated in their work. It doesn’t take ordinary people to take down a power transmission substation, blow up a transmission power line. It’s an organised crime by those who do not want growth in the sector.”
Adelabu also spoke on the significant development attained in his one year as minister of power, explaining that Nigeria had struggled with electricity generation of 4,000MW for over 65 years and that in less than a year in office, his development plans have yielded over 1,000MW of electricity to the national grid capacity.
“We have raised the electricity generated capacity from 4,000MW to 5,155MW recorded on the 8th of August, 2024. In the past, it took the country over 25 years to achieve 2,000MW of power and it took between 1984 and today to achieve additional 2,000MW.
“When we resumed as minister, the electricity generated was 4,000MW and within a year, we have added over 1,000MW. Our target is to hit 6,000MW with the support of the Federal Government before the end of this year,” he said.
Speaking further, the minister listed the processes the ministry went through before implementations of the workable processes.
“We had a comprehensive diagnosis of the whole ministry with many organised retreats to find workable and practical solutions to the quagmire in the ministry.
“First we needed an underlining legislation that will decentralise control and make states as players in the value chain.
“It took the effort of President (Bola) Tinubu who signed the Electricity Bill into law which allowed states and private sectors to join and invest in the sector.
“We implemented the supportive policies to act as guiding principles. Then we moved to the market where we looked at the cost reflective tariff as well as infrastructural development, enhancement and upgrade. Extension to remote areas with the adoption of renewal energy and power asset security against saboteurs,” he said.
Adelabu continued that for continuity and sustainability of the many achievements in the power sector, people must be ready to pay their bills.
He stressed that Nigerians can manage to pay the electricity bill irrespective of the cost, compared to the total cost with operating on generators.
He concluded, “We can also avoid energy theft, there are people who tap into electricity without paying for any tariff and more importantly, we must collectively protect the power infrastructure”.
