The Federal Government has unveiled a $2 billion East–West Super Grid that could lift Nigeria’s transmission capacity to 19,000MW. Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed the plan and said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has authorised the work. Moreover, procurement has already begun, so the project is moving beyond the drawing board.
The Super Grid will cut across the country and link major transmission corridors in the North and South. Currently, the network carries only about 4,000 to 5,000MW. Tegbe expects the new line to raise that figure to at least 19,000MW. As a result, the grid will gain far greater capacity to move electricity to consumers.
Tegbe also moved quickly to calm fears about the price tag. “It’s not going to cost $200 billion,” he said, adding that the East–West line will cost about $2 billion. He insisted that Nigerians will not wait long for results. According to him, the project can deliver within two years.
The minister stressed that the new line will not replace the national grid. Instead, it will complement the existing network and build resilience into it. Therefore, a fault on one route will no longer threaten supply across the entire country. That resilience matters because recent disruptions left many Nigerians in the dark.
Stability, however, remains the government’s immediate priority. Tegbe acknowledged the pain of recent outages and asked citizens for patience. “I’m a Nigerian too and I have families,” he said. He also reminded Nigerians that crews fixed the latest challenge and that his main purpose is to keep the grid stable.
To support that claim, Tegbe pointed to the grid’s recent record. He said the country has not suffered a total collapse since January 2026. Furthermore, he credited better coordination among the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and the generation companies. Their reaction time, he said, has improved noticeably.
He offered a concrete example of that progress. Crews once needed about two months to restore a fallen transmission line, but they recently fixed one within four or five days. Additionally, he has ordered engineers to repair the Oshogbo–Ikeja West line by the end of November. Tegbe also described the sector’s core problem in simple terms: “80% human, 20% infrastructure.”
Vandalism, meanwhile, continues to threaten supply. Tegbe warned that crimes against towers carry heavy consequences. “When you pull down a tower, it means you pull down a transmission line,” he said, and the loss of that line cuts power to thousands of homes. Consequently, the government plans to broadcast jingles in several local languages to teach Nigerians how to protect these assets.
Money presents another hurdle. The Federal Government owes generation companies ₦3.3 trillion, and it has paid about ₦1.2 trillion so far. Tegbe promised to clear the balance next year. In turn, the payments should give the companies enough liquidity to buy gas, because gas exists but the cash to buy it sometimes runs short.
The final focus is asset optimisation. Several power plants in the Niger Delta, including Alaoji and Afam, sit underused despite their potential. Therefore, the government will boost their output and transmit that power to the regions that need it most. This step alone could add useful megawatts before the Super Grid arrives.
Still, Nigerians have heard bold power promises before, and many will wait for proof. The real test will come when contractors break ground and the megawatts begin to flow. For now, the minister has set a clear target and a clear deadline. Nigerians will watch closely to see whether the lights finally stay on.
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