The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians that exporting electricity to countries within the West African sub-region will not affect supply to homes and businesses across the country. According to him, Nigeria currently has enough generation capacity to meet domestic demand.
Speaking on Wednesday at the maiden Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja, themed “Building a Resilient and Competitive Electricity Market: The role of NISO,” Adelabu said Nigeria supplies 360MW to the West African Power Pool (WAPP) out of the 600MW it is contracted to export, insisting that the arrangement does not threaten local supply.
He praised NISO for the successful November 8, 2025 synchronisation of Nigeria’s national grid with the WAPP system, which ran for four uninterrupted hours without any adverse effects. According to him, the feat reinforces the government’s confidence in ongoing reforms in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Adelabu noted that the achievement demonstrates what disciplined operations, improved communication protocols, and enhanced technical capacity can deliver, describing the power sector as a key pillar of Nigeria’s national economic transformation plan. He stressed that progress in the sector requires collaboration across the value chain.
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“This engagement allows us to reinforce collaboration across the value chain. System operators, generation companies, transmission service providers, distribution licensees, regulators, market participants, state governments and consumers all have important roles to play,” he said. “No single institution can deliver a stable and efficient power sector in isolation.”
The minister said recent improvements show the Federal Government’s commitment under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to deepening reforms, attracting private investment, and unlocking renewable-energy potential nationwide.
He also highlighted key achievements recorded under the current administration, including the decentralisation of the power sector, activation of 15 state electricity markets, development of a National Integrated Electricity Policy for the first time in 24 years, and over $2 billion in new investments.
Other milestones include increasing installed generation capacity from 13GW to 14GW, achieving a historic generation peak of 5,801.44MW and a maximum daily energy output of 128,370.75MWh on March 4, 2025, and securing N700 billion from FAAC to drive the Presidential Metering Initiative. He added that an additional 3.45 million meters would be provided through the World Bank’s $500 million DISREP fund.
Adelabu, however, lamented that load rejection by power distribution companies remains a major constraint, limiting national supply to about 5,000MW despite higher available generation.
In his remarks, NISO Managing Director, Engineer Abdu Mohammed, attributed the successful synchronisation to the collective commitment of operators across the value chain system operations, TCN teams, generation and distribution companies, gas suppliers, regulators, and market participants.
He explained that the four-hour synchronisation showed what is possible when technical competence, operational discipline, and strong institutional cooperation align.
“Nigeria has made history with the successful synchronization of the national grid with the West African Power Pool interconnected system,” he said. “For four unbroken hours, electricity flowed from Nigeria and Niger into the entire West African sub-region operating at a single, stabilized frequency.”
Mohammed said the milestone not only proves Nigeria’s technical capability but also strengthens its position as a regional power hub while opening new opportunities for electricity trading and boosting investor confidence.
He stressed that building a resilient electricity market requires trust, transparency, neutrality, and continuous engagement among all stakeholders, noting that NISO remains committed to these principles.