Senate Urges New Power Minister to Tackle Generator Cabal

The Nigerian Senate has charged the newly appointed Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, to address the generator cabal that is believed to be undermining the stability of electricity supply in Nigeria. During a session, lawmakers, including the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Enyinnaya Abaribe, highlighted the existence of two layers of cabals operating within the ministry, particularly in the multi-billion naira generator import market.

They warned that commercial interests are entrenching inefficiencies and resisting necessary reforms aimed at stabilizing electricity supply across generation, transmission, and distribution. Former Minister of Power, Danjuma Goje, emphasized the economic implications of these issues, citing the failure of the ministry to manage maintenance contracts effectively, which has led to repeated grid collapses.

The Senate urged Tegbe to scrutinize maintenance requests and ensure that figures presented are genuine to avoid perpetuating existing problems. Senate President Godswill Akpabio reiterated that the crisis is not solely technical but involves overlaps in policy and regulation among various stakeholders in the electricity sector.