Nigeria Power Minister Apologizes for Outages, Promises Fixes in Two Weeks

Nigeria's Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, issued a public apology on Tuesday in Abuja for widespread electricity outages that have disrupted daily life across the country, assuring citizens that improvements would begin within two weeks as repairs on a key gas pipeline near completion.

The outages, which have intensified during the dry season's high temperatures, have affected households, businesses, schools, and industries, leading to increased hardship amid heightened demand for cooling. Adelabu attributed the disruptions primarily to shortages in gas supply, which powers about 75 percent of the nation's electricity generation. "I want to apologise to Nigerians for this temporary issue that is leading to hardship being experienced, especially during this dry season where there is so much heat everywhere and where businesses, schools and industries are being affected," Adelabu said during a press briefing.

According to officials, the core issue stems from maintenance work on a major gas pipeline operated by Seplat Energy, which has reduced fuel availability to power plants and left turbines idle. The remaining 25 percent of generation relies on hydroelectric sources, but...