The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says that Nigerians have ‘stopped’ complaining about the hike in petrol price because they no longer need it to run their generators due to constant electricity supply.

The minister stated this while speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, October 15. Last week, the NNPCL increased the pump price of petrol at its retail outlets from N868 per litre to N968 per litre in Lagos and above N1000 in some other regions. The astronomical rise in the price of petrol led to the sharp increase in the cost of transportation, food items and other essential household commodities in Nigeria.

During the conference, Adelabu said;

“People don’t need to buy petrol again as much as they used to do for them to have power. That’s why the noise is even at this level. If they had to be going to the filling stations to buy N1000 per litre of petrol to generate electricity, we would have even had louder noise from the public.

So, what we intend to do is to make sure that all the generators are replaced in line with Lagos State Policy of Replacement of 1 Million Generators in One Year. I saw that. We must replace all the generators.”

In the same breathe, the minister lamented Nigeria’s abysmal performance in the area of power generation, stating that the country added only 2000 megawatts of power to the national grid in the last 40 years dating back to 1984.

“But we are over 200 million people, we are still celebrating achieving 5000MW milestone. Why this seems to be an achievement is because it took us almost 40 years to generate additional 2000MW from the 2000MW milestone we achieved in 1984. When we came to the office, we met 4000MW.

Now, we have taken it to average of 5000MW, with a peak of 5,527MW on the third of September. But we are not deterred. If the last best time was 50 years ago, I believe the next best time is today, and this must wake us up. So, it’s an issue I don’t like to remember”, he said

Adedeji Adeleke, Davido’s father, is indeed a powerhouse in Nigeria’s business scene. As the CEO of Pacific Holdings Limited, he’s been making waves in various industries.

Now David’s father is taking on the energy sector with an impressive project – building the largest thermal power plant in Nigeria, valued at $2 billion and set to launch in January 2025.

Ekwutosblog gathered that his  new venture will reportedly generate about 15% of the electricity used in Nigeria, significantly contributing to the country’s power needs.

Given Adedeji Adeleke’s track record as a successful entrepreneur, it’s no surprise he’s taking on this ambitious project.

Some of Nigeria’s current top thermal power plants include:

•⁠ ⁠_Egbin Power Station_: a 1,320MW thermal power project located in Lagos
•⁠ ⁠_Alaoji Power Station_: a 1,074MW thermal power project located in Abia
•⁠ ⁠_Afam Power Station I-V_: a 987.20MW thermal project located in Rivers
•⁠ ⁠_Ughelli Delta Power Plant_: a 964.68MW thermal project located in Delta
•⁠ ⁠_Olorunsogo II Power Plant_: a 750MW thermal project located in Ogun

Adedeji Adeleke’s new power plant will likely join this list, further solidifying his impact on Nigeria’s energy landscape.

Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced a notable increase in the country’s foreign reserves, which rose by 12.74% to $39.12 billion as of October 11, 2024.

Ekwutosblog reports that Cardoso shared this development during his appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Banking Regulation on Tuesday, October 15.

Cardoso revealed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at $34.70 billion at the end of June 2024, reflecting significant growth in a few months. This comes after reserves fell to $32.29 billion on April 15, 2024, the lowest level in over six years.

“The reserves have grown significantly, with remittance flows now contributing 9.4% to total external reserves,” Cardoso explained. He attributed the rise in reserves to foreign capital inflows, crude oil-related taxes, and other third-party receipts.

“In the second quarter of 2024, we maintained a current account surplus and observed substantial improvements in our trade balance,” he added.

Cardoso emphasized the resilience of Nigeria’s external reserves, noting they can finance over 12 months of imports for goods and services or 15 months for goods alone—far exceeding the international benchmark of 30 months, ensuring a robust buffer against external economic shocks.

In discussing reforms in the foreign exchange market, the CBN governor pointed to the unification of exchange rate windows under the “willing buyer, willing seller” model. This strategy was designed to enhance foreign exchange liquidity and improve market transparency and stability.

“This reform has improved transparency, reduced market distortions, and streamlined foreign exchange allocation. The bank resumed FX sales at the NAFEX and Bureau De Change (BDC) segments, driven by increased supply from foreign portfolio investors,” Cardoso said.

The narrowing of exchange rate disparities between the NAFEX and BDC segments has also led to a convergence of rates, boosting market confidence and enabling the CBN to clear existing FX backlogs.

Cardoso further stated, “The settlement of all legitimate backlogs of outstanding FX obligations by the bank has significantly improved Nigeria’s credibility and ratings across the global financial market, helping to boost investor confidence and enhance liquidity in the foreign exchange market.”

“With improved investor confidence, foreign investments have increased, as evidenced by a significant rise in capital importation by 65.56% to $6.49 billion between January and July 2024, compared to $3.92 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.”

Cardoso concluded by noting the broader impacts of these actions: “Collectively, these actions have contributed significantly to the stability of the financial system.”