Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said some electricity consumers have asked him to “slow down” the improvement in power supply because their freezers are now working continuously, as he maintained that recent Federal Government interventions were beginning to yield results in parts of the country.
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Tegbe spoke on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, while commissioning a 3-megawatt solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, formerly the University of Abuja. The project was delivered under Phase II of the Energising Education Programme by the Rural Electrification Agency with support from the World Bank-funded Nigeria Electrification Project.
According to the minister, some communities that had previously endured prolonged outages were now receiving significantly longer periods of electricity supply.
“Places that didn’t have light at all for three months are now having 18 hours of light. Some areas called me to say, look, I should slow down, that everything in their freezer is freezing,” Tegbe said.
Responding to the reported complaints, he added: “That is what a freezer is meant to do. Let it freeze the food that needs to be frozen.”
The minister recalled that during his Senate screening, he had told Nigerians that improvements in electricity supply would begin to become noticeable within three to six months.
While highlighting what he described as progress, Tegbe acknowledged that serious structural problems remain in the electricity sector, particularly ageing infrastructure.
“Some of the infrastructure we have in the electricity and power sector are more than 40 years old. We’re systematically replacing them, phasing them out and bringing new ones,” he said.
He also identified vandalism of electricity infrastructure as a major obstacle, saying transmission towers were repeatedly being destroyed for their metal components.
Tegbe disclosed that three major transmission towers in Birnin Kebbi had recently been brought down by vandals. According to him, the affected infrastructure formed part of the network supplying Kebbi State and extending electricity towards Niger Republic.
“You will not believe how many towers get pulled down by vandals,” the minister said.
He explained that vandals sometimes attack the foundations of transmission towers before bringing the structures down and cutting their components for sale as scrap metal.
According to Tegbe, the Federal Government has responded by establishing a joint working arrangement involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to strengthen the protection of critical electricity assets.
He said the government was also working towards ensuring that attacks on critical power infrastructure attract serious criminal consequences.
At Yakubu Gowon University, Tegbe said the newly inaugurated solar hybrid facility would strengthen electricity supply for teaching, research, laboratories, information and communications technology facilities, administrative buildings and other essential university operations.
The facility comprises a 3.3MWp solar array capable of delivering 3MW AC output, backed by 2MWh of battery storage and dedicated grid supply outside solar-generation periods. It also includes 388 streetlights across the university.
The government said about 58,726 students are expected to benefit from the project, which is also intended to reduce dependence on diesel generators and provide more reliable electricity for academic and administrative activities.
Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, described the project as another milestone under the Energising Education Programme. The programme has delivered renewable-energy infrastructure to several federal universities and teaching hospitals as part of efforts to provide more dependable electricity to tertiary institutions.
Vice-Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University, Prof. Hakeem Fawehinmi, also stressed that dependable electricity was critical to teaching, research and the wider academic mission of the institution.
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