The federal government has assured Nigerian manufacturers, processors, logistics operators, and the entire business community that the era of relying on diesel generators as primary source of electricity was drawing to a close.
The assurance was given on Wednesday in Lagos by Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, in his keynote address at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (LCCI) “2026 Renewable Energy Outlook Conference”, with the theme, “Nigeria’s Energy Transition Agenda: Power Sector Transformation for Industrial Competitiveness.”
Tegbe stated that the challenges in the power sector’s value chain was 20 per cent technical and 80 per cent governance and commercial, which would require replication of the manner of reform that was carried out 25 years ago in the telecom sector in the power sector.
He said the government would privatise the entire segments of the power sector in the nearest future.
The minister stated, “I say to the manufacturers, the processors, the logistics operators, and the technology firms in this room: the era of the diesel generator as your primary power source is drawing to a close.”
He said the government was building a Nigeria in which a manufacturer in Apapa, a data centre in Lekki, or a textile mill in Kano, “can source clean, reliable electricity at a competitive cost-reflective tariff; a Nigeria in which 277 gigawatts of installed capacity, predominantly renewable, powers homes, industries, hospitals, and digital infrastructure; a Nigeria that leads in population, resource endowment, and in the productivity and competitiveness that reliable energy makes possible”.
He encouraged the entire business community to swiftly embrace the advantages contained in the Electricity Act 2023 in order to escape the high cost of operating on diesel generators.
The minister pointed to “embedded generation, industrial mini-grids, renewable energy procurement agreements, and direct connections to renewable independent power producers that are now legally enabled under the Electricity Act 2023”, saying, “We encourage you to move swiftly. The competitive advantage belongs to those who act first.”
Tegbe said the Federal Ministry of Power could not, and did not intend to, deliver the transformation alone, even though the Energy Transition Office had mobilised over $3.6 billion in investment to date.
He said, “The updated Energy Transition and Investment Plan has mapped the precise capital requirements across the power, cooking, transport, industry, and oil and gas sectors, providing the detailed roadmap that institutional investors and development finance institutions require.
“But what we need from the Lagos Chamber is not only investment.
“We need advocacy. We need the private sector to participate actively in state electricity market consultations, ensuring that tariff frameworks, grid access rules, and renewable energy procurement mechanisms are commercially sound.”
He also called for patience calibrated by urgency because, “transformations of this magnitude— restructuring the electricity governance of a nation of over 220 million people— do not conclude in a single administration”.
Tegbe stated, “But the foundations must be correct, and the momentum must be sustained. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that both conditions are met.
“We shall not pretend that the journey ahead is without difficulty. Grid instability, legacy debt of over N3 trillion, the metering gap, the coordination challenges of thirty-six subnational electricity markets represent real obstacles, and honest leadership demands that we name them clearly, even as we chart the path around them.”
President of LCCI, Mr. Leye Kupoluyi, in his welcome remarks, said it was a paradox that Nigeria was delivering 4,901 megawatts of electricity to its over 220 million citizens, despite sitting on 37 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and receiving an average of 5.5 kWh/m²/day of solar irradiation, among the highest in the world.
Kupoluyi stated that a nation endowed with energy resources had no business tolerating energy poverty because energy is the foundation upon which modern economies are built.
He said, “Sadly, Nigeria continues to face significant challenges in energy access and reliability that constrain productivity, increase operating costs, and limit business growth across sectors.
“For many enterprises energy costs have become a major component of operating expenses.”
Speaking during the conference, Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Biodun Ogunleye, said with 6,000 megawatts of power on the way, industries in Lagos State could look forward to a better tomorrow.
Ogunleye stated, “Industries in Lagos can start scaling up. All the industries that have relocated, and maybe gone to Accra, or whatever city globally, can start looking at Lagos again as a place to be.”
He also said the state government had proactively ensured that all of its hospitals currently had renewable energy as their base choice.
Ogunleye said, “What we found out was that we are paying more for diesel than we are paying for medical supplies, for Panadol and all that we are giving to patients. So we are not thinking about what to do.”
Dike Onwuamaeze
