Some Nigerians, including civil society organisations, have called for the resignation of the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, over what they described as persistent electricity outages across the country.
They accused him of incompetence and failure to address the worsening power situation.
The aggrieved Nigerians made the calls in reaction to a post by the minister on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday providing an update on the power situation.
In the post, Tegbe attributed power failures in some parts of the country to planned maintenance at the Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations.
The minister assured Nigerians that power would be restored within 48 to 72 hours.
He also said the government was working with operators to improve gas supply to thermal power plants and repair damaged infrastructure.
“My team and I are working to return the affected generating units to service in phases, with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours,” he said.
In another post, the minister disclosed that the ministry had secured the release of 98 out of 300 containers of transmission equipment that had been stranded for nearly 20 years at the ports.
He said this would help the government complete stalled projects, ease pressure on overloaded substations, and strengthen the grid.
The development comes amid growing complaints from electricity consumers over reduced supply hours, with the Nigerian Independent System Operator identifying inadequate gas supply and lower water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs as major constraints on national grid generation.
Latest electricity distribution data showed that the 11 electricity distribution companies received a combined allocation of 2,926 megawatts as of 4:41 p.m. on Thursday.
However, Nigerians took to social media to fault the minister’s explanation, accusing the government of making excuses for the persistent collapse of the national grid.
While some faulted the minister for not notifying Nigerians early enough about the maintenance work, others called for his resignation, describing the persistent power outages as unacceptable and demanding urgent reforms in the electricity sector.
The National President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Yinka Folarin, described the minister’s explanation as unacceptable, saying he had demonstrated a lack of competence and could no longer be trusted to manage the power sector.
Folarin also called for the resignation of the minister, accusing him of misleading Nigerians over the persistent electricity crisis.
He said, “The minister should be honourable to say, ‘Come, I am not competent,’ and give room for a more competent person. Those excuses he has brought forward are not sustainable.”
The CDHR president, who accused the minister of failing to provide solutions to the country’s erratic electricity supply, said he was not optimistic that the situation would improve under his leadership.
He added, “It will not be out of place to say that he should take a bow out of that office and give room for a more solution-driven person to man the affairs of that ministry.”
On the financial burden of the electricity crisis, Folarin lamented that Nigerians continued to pay exorbitant bills despite poor and, in some communities, non-existent electricity supply.
He described the practice of billing communities that had been without electricity for weeks as unfair and barbaric, urging the Federal Government to intervene.
Speaking with DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, also criticised the minister, describing his handling of the electricity crisis as disappointing.
Onwubiko said the minister had made “unscientific claims about electricity supply,” recalling his earlier assertion that Nigerians were asking the government to introduce load-shedding because of excess power supply.
He described as another excuse the minister’s promise to restore adequate electricity supply within 72 hours.
Onwubiko also questioned President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to improving electricity supply, recalling his campaign promise to provide 24-hour power or risk losing re-election.
He called for a probe into the power ministry, accusing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission of failing to adequately hold those responsible for alleged financial abuses accountable.
On whether the minister should resign, Onwubiko said his removal alone would not address the underlying problems, arguing that the government needed to appoint a competent replacement.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, said Nigerians were justified in demanding accountability for the persistent electricity crisis, insisting that the minister must take responsibility for the failures under his watch.
He said the minister’s performance should be independently assessed against measurable targets, adding that persistent failure to deliver should attract appropriate consequences, including removal from office.
On whether the minister’s resignation would resolve the electricity crisis, the CISLAC director said the problem was rooted in systemic challenges, including poor planning, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, gas shortages, and weak regulation.
He, however, warned that the systemic nature of the crisis should not shield public officials from accountability for their individual responsibilities.
Rafsanjani urged the Federal Government to conduct an urgent audit of expenditure in the power sector, tackle gas supply challenges, modernise electricity infrastructure, and enforce strict performance standards for sector leaders and operators.
Social media reactions
Expressing frustration on social media, an X user, Oluwafemi Ojo, wrote, “It is unfortunate that the minister is just telling us this two months after the power situation had worsened. Please resign sir. Thank you.”
Another user, Legendarytakes, argued that the minister should have resigned, saying, “In a sane country, you should be resigning!”
“Official_dags” also faulted the minister for allegedly taking too long to address the situation.
“Resign! This has been on for three months and you’re only now addressing it,” the user wrote.
Another user, Zamba, accused the minister of failing to anticipate and address challenges in the sector, including infrastructure breakdowns and gas shortages.
“You are a very incompetent minister of power. You have failed in your duty. Are you not supposed to be proactive when discharging your responsibilities? Must you wait for the infrastructure to fail or low shortage of gas supply before swinging into action to do your job? Resign now!” the user wrote.
Also, Michael Krusu described the minister as a “minister of darkness”, arguing that he would have resigned if he were serving in a country where public officials were held accountable.
However, some commenters suggested structural reforms as a way out of the persistent electricity crisis.
Wemimo Oluwalade called for the decentralisation of the national electricity grid and the establishment of regional power grids, arguing that the current arrangement had failed to deliver reliable electricity.
He said, “Please decentralise this national grid, sir. Let’s have regional power grids as campaigned by APC. There is no excuse for this shambolic power situation.”
Another user, Temiloluwa Awonbiogbon, blamed the crisis on the failure of successive governments to prioritise electricity supply, saying the country needed a government capable of generating, transmitting, and distributing 10,000 megawatts within three to four years as an initial step.
Meanwhile, the Oyo State Coordinator of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, Abiodun Bamgboye, said the minister’s resignation would not resolve the country’s electricity crisis, arguing that the problem went beyond the occupant of the office.
Bamgboye described the minister’s explanations for the persistent power outages as lame excuses, questioning the claim of a gas shortage during the rainy season when the country was expected to rely more on hydroelectric power.
He said, “How can they be claiming a shortage of gas when we are in the rainy season? According to their usual explanations, it is during the dry season, when water levels reduce, that they depend on gas to generate electricity. During the rainy season, they often claim to rely on hydroelectric power.
“So, the argument about gas shortage should not arise at this stage. They can claim that there is maintenance, but maintenance should have a time frame, and Nigerians ought to have been notified before it commenced. There was no prior notification, and it is only now, when electricity supply has deteriorated, that they are coming up with that explanation.”
He argued that Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity was grossly inadequate for a population of over 200 million, noting that the country was struggling to distribute less than 10,000 megawatts.
