By Aondona Akaahan
Nigeria’s power sector constitutes a national emergency, throttling economic potential and perpetuating poverty. Over 200 million citizens endure perennial blackouts, with grid supply averaging a mere 4,200 megawatts in early 2026—per the latest Nigerian Electricity System Operator (NISO) bulletin—against an installed capacity of 13,500 megawatts.
This deficit exacts a staggering toll: World Bank estimates peg annual GDP losses at N12.5 trillion, while households and businesses squander N1.5 trillion on diesel generators yearly. Factories shutter, hospitals improvise with inverters, and SMEs collapse under fuel burdens comprising 45% of costs, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda demands decisive intervention. Gabriel Suswam stands preeminent—not through patronage, but proven prowess—as the indispensable Minister of Power to deliver systemic transformation.
Suswam’s institutional mastery is unrivalled. As Chairman of both the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Power, he commanded oversight across Nigeria’s bicameral legislature, a feat shared by vanishingly few.
This dual perch unveiled the sector’s core afflictions: generation shortfalls from gas curtailments (NERC reports 70% of thermal plants idling due to supply gaps), transmission collapses (over 150 in 2025 alone), distribution inefficiencies (DisCos aggregating N2.8 trillion in debts), and regulatory inertia deterring $10 billion in queued investments.
Suswam navigated these, forging consensus amid federal-state frictions and private sector pushback. He requires no onboarding; his vantage has already illuminated the path forward.
His governorship of Benue State (2007–2015) translates insight into impact, with electrification as a cornerstone. Benue’s rural expanse—spanning 34,059 square kilometres—mirrored national off-grid woes, stunting its “Food Basket” status. Suswam launched the Benue Independent Power Project (BIPP), injecting 100 megawatts via rural electrification schemes in partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Over 300 communities in zones like Gboko and Katsina-Ala gained access, including solar-hybrid mini-grids serving 50,000 households. Urban Makurdi benefited from grid reinforcements, slashing outages by 60%. Results were empirical: state IGR surged 42% from N4.2 billion in 2010 to N6 billion by 2014, fuelled by powered agro-processors handling 500,000 metric tonnes of yams and soybeans annually. Irrigation pumps sustained harvests amid climate shocks, reducing post-harvest losses by 25%, per Benue Ministry of Agriculture data. Community buy-in via local cooperatives curbed vandalism, a model ripe for national replication—especially as REA targets 5 million solar connections by 2027.
On the national stage, Suswam orchestrated the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) unbundling as Senate Committee Chairman. Enacted via the 2005 EPSR Act and operationalised in 2013, it dismantled the monolithic PHCN into 11 DisCos, six GenCos, and TCN, privatising $2.5 billion in assets. This injected $1.2 billion in FDI by 2015, laying the privatised market’s foundation despite lingering DisCo meter deficits (only 12 million smart meters deployed versus 20 million needed, per NERC 2026).
Suswam’s leadership prevailed over union strikes and fiscal hurdles, proving his reformist resolve.
Undeniably, the Electricity Act 2023—sponsored singularly by Suswam—redefines the sector. This landmark legislation decentralises authority, empowering states to manage generation, transmission, and distribution outside the national grid. It bolsters NERC’s enforcement, mandates cost-reflective tariffs (rising 150% since 2024 yet trailing true costs), and catalyses renewables with incentives like 10-year tax holidays for solar and wind.
Pioneers like Lagos (Eko Electricity Company generating 500 MW independently) and Edo (solar plants powering 100,000 homes) validate it. As an architect, Suswam can rectify implementation gaps, such as interstate wheeling protocols, unlocking $5 billion in state-led projects per African Development Bank forecasts.
Sceptics cite enduring deficits: 2026 NISO data logs 4,200 MW supply amid 45% transmission losses. Yet Suswam’s toolkit counters this decisively. He could enforce the stalled Siemens-TCN deal (Phase 1 targeting 7,000 MW upgrades), operationalise 2,000 MW from the 1,200 km transmission lines under construction, and harness Nigeria’s 200 trillion cubic feet of gas via LNG terminals in Bonny and Brass.
His Benue model scales REA’s $500 million World Bank-funded solar pipeline, prioritising agrarian belts. Vandalism? Deploy his community vigilance networks, which protected 90% of Benue lines.
President Tinubu’s meritocratic appointments furnish the blueprint. General Christopher Musa, as Chief of Defence Staff in 2023 and now Minister of Defence, halved Northwest insecurity via integrated ops, per Army reports. Dave Umahi’s Works Ministry delivered 5,000 km of roads in 2025.
Power merits equal calibre—no dilettantes when outages imperil Tinubu’s $1 trillion GDP vision by 2030. Suswam’s cross-party pedigree fits Tinubu’s ecumenism, akin to Atiku Bagudu’s budget role.
Stable power cascades prosperity: digital hubs hum, agriculture mechanises (doubling Kebbi rice from 1.2 million tonnes), and industries onshore (saving $20 billion in forex). Families gain—children learn, entrepreneurs innovate—sans gen-set tyranny. Nigeria’s power quagmire yields only to authoritative command. Gabriel Suswam embodies it: legislative authorship, executive delivery, and reformist tenacity.
President Tinubu, appoint him forthwith. Nigeria’s lights ignite, its economy surges, and hope renews.
Aondona Akaahan writes from Lokogoma, Abuja.
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