President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged to mobilise resources for the establishment of 10 additional mobile power stations across Nigeria as part of efforts to strengthen the nation’s electricity infrastructure.
The President made the commitment on Monday at the State House, Abuja, during a meeting with a delegation from Siemens Energy, led by Mr. Dietmar Siersdorfer, Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa.
Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to improving power supply, President Tinubu said the partnership with Siemens Energy under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) remains a key component of his government’s plan to enhance electricity generation, stimulate industrial growth, and improve livelihoods nationwide.
“Let me affirm our government’s commitment to this aspect. In addition to that, we are going to resource and find ways to fund the additional ten mobile stations as long as we follow this up,” the President said.
The President described power as the backbone of national development, stressing that sectors such as education, healthcare, and transportation all depend on reliable energy supply.
“Without power, it is an impossible objective. This is what we must achieve for this continent to see the glory of economic recovery and banishment of poverty,” he added.
Tinubu expressed optimism that the completion of the various phases of the Presidential Power Initiative would position Nigeria as a continental leader in energy capacity and industrial advancement.
“There is no industrial growth or economic development without power. I believe power is the most significant discovery of humanity in the last 1,000 years,” he said.
The meeting was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Finance Wale Edun, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu, and Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen.
Providing updates on the PPI, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu disclosed that Siemens Energy had so far commissioned 10 mobile substations and several power transformers, adding 984 megawatts (MW) of transmission capacity to the national grid.
He noted that two of the five new substations under Phase One of the project — located in Abeokuta, Offa, Ayede-Ibadan, Sokoto, and Onitsha — are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
“As we consolidate the gains from the pilot phase and phase one, we are preparing to advance to phase one, batch two, covering 16 new substations nationwide with a total impact of over 4,000MW,” Adelabu said.
Also speaking, Minister of Finance Wale Edun stated that completion of the initiative would enhance Nigeria’s ease of doing business, create more jobs, and reduce poverty.
In his remarks, Siemens Energy’s Dietmar Siersdorfer affirmed the company’s commitment to the project, disclosing that Siemens had commenced the construction of a training centre to build local expertise in electrical engineering and promote technology transfer.
“The PPI is not just a project but a platform for long-term development and prosperity,” he said, adding that thousands of Nigerian professionals were being engaged directly at project sites.
The representative of the German Ambassador, Mr. Johannes Lehne, reaffirmed Germany’s support for Nigeria’s power sector reforms and pledged continued collaboration with the Tinubu administration.
(NAN)
