The Federal Government has announced plans to move most electricity consumers in Nigeria to Band A, where they will receive at least 20 hours of electricity daily.
This comes as the Transmission Company of Nigeria revealed that the country has achieved a new peak power generation of 5,543.20 megawatts.
TCN, in a statement on Wednesday, said this new milestone was recorded on Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:00 PM, breaking the previous record of 5,478.73MW set a day earlier.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria is pleased to announce that the Nigerian power sector achieved a new peak generation of 5,543.20MW for the year 2025, on Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:00 PM. This surpasses the previous peak of 5,478.73MW recorded on Thursday, February 13, 2025,” the statement read.
TCN also highlighted another achievement in energy distribution, saying that the Maximum Daily Energy supplied on February 14 was 125,159.48 megawatt-hours, surpassing the previous record of 121,674.88MWH set on February 7.
The company assured that it successfully transmitted the new peak generation to distribution companies, ensuring that power reached consumers across the country.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday that the government wants to provide more electricity to underserved and unserved communities.
According to her, the plan is to meter all customers to monitor their power consumption and improve cash flow for further investment in the sector.
“The goal is that most customers in Nigeria become Band A customers, that is, they get over 20 hours of service. So you should be able to see that from these interventions,” she said.
Verheijen added that the ongoing reforms aim to improve both the distribution companies and their customers.
“So, whether you’re a business or in an industrial cluster, you should see improved distribution capacity, reliability, and access. The Discos will also have the funds to invest in infrastructure, which will improve service levels,” she explained.
She pointed out that about 60 to 70 per cent of Nigeria’s gas is used for power generation, but gas companies struggle to recover funds due to financial challenges in the power sector.
“We need to diversify the uses of our gas. But you can’t diversify if the cash flows don’t work,” she stated.
On power distribution, she said the privatisation of the sector did not go through a strict process to ensure that buyers had the financial and technical ability to improve the system.
The government’s plan to increase power supply and improve electricity distribution is expected to bring relief to millions of Nigerians who have long struggled with unstable electricity.
