The Power Minister-designate, Joseph Tegbe, has vowed to restructure the power sector within his first three months in office after his inauguration, during his screening at the Senate on Wednesday. Tegbe was confirmed by the Senate during a session presided over by Godswill Akpabio, following a nomination request sent to……
The Power Minister-designate, Joseph Tegbe, has vowed to restructure the power sector within his first three months in office after his inauguration, during his screening at the Senate on Wednesday.
Tegbe was confirmed by the Senate during a session presided over by Godswill Akpabio, following a nomination request sent to the Senate on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu.
TVC News online reported on Tuesday that the request was contained in a letter addressed to the Senate and read on the floor during plenary by Senate President Akpabio.
Tegbe was screened alongside Sola Enikanolaiye, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, in line with constitutional provisions before their confirmation.
While addressing the Senate, Tegbe noted that he is going to spearhead a disciplined approach to addressing the issues plaguing the power sector, including the frequent national grid collapse.
The Power Minister-designate said he will present his plan with targeted milestones, adding that Nigerians should hold him accountable if changes are not visible within three months.
He said, “We’re going to come to you with difficult decisions. Your constituents will run to you. Please, tell them to bear with us. There may be small pain, but we’ll get there because we are going to have a disciplined approach to addressing this.
“I’ll come and present to you what our plan is, with clear milestones. If you don’t see these in three months, it means you won’t see six months; so you must see the three months, and you must hold us accountable for it. When we put those things together in the next one or two weeks, we’ll come to you and present them to you.”
He vows to implement policies aimed at stopping leakage and inefficiencies in the power sector, addressing existing challenges, and ensuring the system is stabilised and made more sustainable through necessary reforms.
Tegbe noted that market-reflective tariffs will only be considered when the industry is mature enough, with proper safeguards to protect vulnerable citizens, while ensuring that those who can afford reliable electricity are charged appropriately and held accountable for payments.
He added, “So, we will not—we will put a stop to that leakage, to that bleeding, and all the challenges that we have. Market-reflective tariffs—will you advise the government to charge market-reflective tariffs? When we get there, the industry has to be mature enough. Because power is an essential commodity.
“You must take into consideration the social responsibility that the country has—the federal government has. So the vulnerable have to be protected. People that can afford to pay, who need it—rather than using generators—rather than the guys who are buying generators and spending even three, four times—when you give them the right tariff, they will pay. And we’ll do the same model, and I’ll particularly—I will remember what you said, and I’ll come back and hold—you can hold me responsible.”
“But before you can charge market-reflective tariffs, you have to build trust. We’ll build that trust, we’ll protect the vulnerable, and we’ll ensure that whatever we are charging is sustainable,” he concluded.
