Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia South, has warned Joseph Tegbe, minister-designate for power, to be prepared for resistance from vested interests benefiting from Nigeria’s electricity challenges.
Abaribe spoke on Wednesday during Tegbe’s ministerial screening on the floor of the Senate.
The lawmaker said the “generator cabal” profits heavily from the country’s poor electricity supply and would resist attempts to improve power generation and distribution.
“The generator cabal, those who sell generators in Nigeria, must be one of the biggest generators that they are selling anywhere in the world,” he said.
“So when you ramp up power and want to take over, you’re dealing with the means of livelihood and they are going to come after you. Don’t make any mistakes about that.”
Abaribe also accused electricity distribution companies of failing to invest in infrastructure despite obtaining distribution licences.
The senator said many communities still lack basic electricity infrastructure, including transformers.
“Those who were given the distribution licences at the bottom do not, I repeat, do not invest in their capacity,” he said.
“I am chairman of power. In my house in the village, there is no power.
“Why? There is no transformer in my place. I have told them, I have written several letters and they have told me they cannot get it. So I have to go and buy.”
He advised Tegbe to ensure distribution companies comply with the terms of their licences by expanding and improving electricity infrastructure.
“Make sure that those who are doing distribution actually keep to the terms of their contract, which is to expand and improve on what they have bought,” he added.
Tegbe was later confirmed, while promising to fix Nigeria’s national grid collapse in three months.
