Minister Tegbe Reveals 20-Year Delay in Power Equipment

Olasunkanmi Joseph Tegbe, the Minister of Power, announced that critical grid infrastructure, including high-capacity transformers and cables, has been abandoned at Nigerian ports for up to 20 years due to administrative failures. These items were imported by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Power and the Transmission Company of Nigeria for various power projects, including the National Integrated Power Project and the Presidential Power Initiative.

Tegbe stated that the delays were caused by previous administrations' failure to settle port charges and complete customs procedures. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Ministry of Power to collaborate with the Nigerian Ports Authority and Nigeria Customs Service to clear all charges.

Technical experts will audit the containers to determine which equipment is usable for ongoing projects and which should be disposed of. This situation explains why Nigeria has a generation capacity of 13,000MW but can only transmit 5,000MW, as the necessary equipment has been locked at the ports.