The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has emphasized the necessity of establishing power grids in various regions or states to eliminate the frequent grid collapses.

He made this statement on Wednesday during the unveiling of Hexing Livoltek, an electricity meter manufacturing company located in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

Adelabu noted that grid collapses are nearly unavoidable in Nigeria due to the poor condition of the country’s power infrastructure.

He stated that having multiple power grids across regions and states would provide greater stability.

The minister pointed out that the decentralization of the power sector would facilitate the construction of grids in each region, an initiative enabled by the Electricity Act signed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

“This Electricity Act has decentralised power. It has enabled all the subnational governments, the state government and the local government, to be able to participate in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.

We all rely on a single national grid today; if there is a disturbance of the national grid, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that. This will enable us to start moving gradually towards having regional groups and possibly having state grids.

“And each of these grids will be removed and shielded from each other. So, if there’s a problem with a particular grid, only the state where it belongs will be affected, not the entire nation. So, this is one of the impacts this Electricity Act will have,” he stressed.

Regarding grid collapses, he asserted that such occurrences would be inevitable without adequate investment in the sector.

“We keep talking about grid collapse. Grid collapse, grid collapse, whether it’s a total collapse, partial collapse, or slight trip-off.

This is almost inevitable as it is today, given the state of our power infrastructure, the infrastructure is in deplorable conditions, so why won’t you have trip-offs?

Why won’t you have collapses, either total or partial? It will continue to remain like this until we can overhaul the entire infrastructure. What we do now is to make sure that we manage it,” he declared.

Adelabu affirmed that there had been no grid collapse in the past four months until it occurred again on Monday.

“In the last four months, we have not heard of any grid collapse, except two days ago when we had a partial collapse that didn’t even last two hours.

So, what we work on now is how to improve our response time, to bring it up each time it collapses.

There are transformers of 60 years old, and 50 years old, and you’re expecting them to perform at the optimal rate. It is not possible.

That is why we need a lot of investments in this infrastructure to bring them up to speed, to bring them up to the state that can give us a grid that will not collapse again,” he enunciated.

While unveiling the company, Adelabu praised the firm for its significant investment in Nigeria at a time when others were withdrawing.

He remarked that the event marked a significant milestone in the sector’s journey toward a more efficient and equitable electricity system.

The minister clarified that the launch of the meter factory symbolized a key achievement in ongoing efforts to prioritize local content, stimulate job creation, and lessen Nigeria’s dependence on imports.

The Chief Executive Officer of Hexing Group, Robert Liang, expressed optimism about Hexing’s expansion into Nigeria, calling it a pivotal moment for the company and a commitment to advancing clean energy in the country.

“This is a proud moment for the Hexing Group as we open our branch in Nigeria. It’s more than just an office; it’s a step towards a future where clean energy drives the growth of this great nation.”

Liang highlighted Hexing’s three decades of leadership in smart energy systems, solar technology, and digital infrastructure.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) remains the exclusive off-taker of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

This arrangement persists despite the recent directive from the Federal Government allowing other oil marketers to start loading PMS directly from the refinery.

Oil marketers reported on Wednesday that NNPC would continue as the sole off-taker from the $20 billion Lekki-based facility until the termination of its agreement with the Dangote refinery for PMS supply.

However, no timeline for the end of this agreement was provided by either NNPC or Dangote refinery officials.

On October 11, 2024, the Federal Government announced through the finance ministry that oil marketers were now permitted to negotiate PMS purchases directly from the Dangote refinery without involving NNPC, with the intent to foster competition and enhance market efficiency.

Nonetheless, following a meeting on October 15, 2024, between members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Dangote refinery representatives, it was clarified that NNPC remains the exclusive off-taker until its agreement with Dangote concludes.

An IPMAN notice issued in the Western Zone confirmed, “Until and when the agreement is terminated by either party, the direct sales will still be on hold.”

Major oil marketers corroborated that they continue to procure products from the Dangote refinery under the existing NNPC-Dangote deal, using a Proforma Invoice (PFI) system.

The naira’s value declined in the parallel market on Wednesday, trading at “1,705/dollar,” as reported by Bureau De Change operators in Lagos and Abuja.

According to The Punch, Aliyu Sani, BDC operator in Lagos, said that he sold dollars for “N1705” and bought at “1,695/$.” Meanwhile, in Abuja, the rate was slightly lower at “N1,700.”

Currency trader Suraju Ajao stated that he sold dollars at “1700/$” and bought them at “1,690/$.”

On the Nigerian Autonomous Forex Exchange Market, housed on the FMDQ Securities platform, the naira closed at “1659.69/$,” showing a “0.04 per cent” drop from the “1658.97/$” exchange rate recorded on Tuesday.

In the official market, the naira’s high reached “1,682/$,” while its low was “1,562.97/$.”

Daily turnover declined from “$217.86 million” on Tuesday to “$177.10 million.”

Earlier in the week, the naira hit a new low, closing at “1,700/dollar” on Monday, a “0.29 per cent” drop from “N1,695 to the dollar” last Friday.

The World Bank recently ranked the naira among the “worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024.”

By August, the naira had depreciated by around “43 per cent” year-to-date, making it one of the weakest currencies in the region alongside the Ethiopian birr and South Sudanese pound.

This decline is due to increased demand for U.S. dollars in Nigeria’s parallel market, limited dollar inflows, and slow foreign exchange disbursements from the central bank.