The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has revealed that the Federal Ministry of Power received no capital allocation in the 2025 budget, but maintained that the absence of funding did not derail oversight functions or ongoing reforms in the electricity sector.
Adelabu made the disclosure on Wednesday during a budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Power at the National Assembly in Abuja. He explained that while the ministry fully implemented its recurrent expenditures, capital spending recorded no performance due to the non-release of funds.
“There are three components to the budget, which are salaries and wages, overhead costs, and capital expenditure. The first two were achieved 100 per cent, but we recorded zero per cent on the capital component. However, we have agencies under the ministry that generate revenues on their own and could carry on their work. This made it much easier for us to weather through the year.”
Despite the funding gap, the minister insisted that the ministry sustained its regulatory and supervisory responsibilities and continued advancing sector reforms. According to him, the national grid remained largely stable throughout 2025, recording only a single disturbance.
“In 2024, when budget performance was far better, we recorded one full grid collapse and about four disturbances. However, in 2025, when we did not get anything, we recorded only one disturbance, which happened in the Niger Delta as a result of vandalism and explosion that affected gas supply,” he said.
He added that prior investments in grid stabilisation helped cushion the impact of fiscal constraints. “We were able to weather this challenge due to investments that have been put into stabilising the grid. So it is not true that because we did not get funds, the nation was thrown into darkness in 2025.”
Adelabu acknowledged that the delayed release of capital funds slowed activities across ministries, departments and agencies, but assured lawmakers that corrective steps had been taken to prevent a repeat in 2026.
“About 30 per cent of the capital budget for 2026 is expected to be released to the ministry before the end of March, while the remaining 70 per cent will be implemented for the rest of the year. The Federal Government is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the fiscal error that affected the implementation of the 2025 budget is avoided in 2026.”
He noted that the commitment aligns with the broader fiscal reform agenda of President Bola Tinubu, aimed at strengthening budget performance across key sectors.
Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Enyinnaya Abaribe, underscored the importance of budgeting as a mechanism for accountability and transparency in public administration.
“It is against this background that ministries, departments and agencies of government are mandated to submit their annual budget estimates and revenue projections to the National Assembly for approval,” he said.
Abaribe stressed that the electricity sector remains central to economic expansion and diversification, assuring that the committee would intensify oversight to ensure results.
“As we are all aware, the power sector plays a vital role in the continuous prosperity of any economy, particularly at a period of rapid global changes and economic diversification. The committee will continue to engage the ministry to ensure tangible implementation of approved budgets and identify challenges that require legislative support,” he said.
The minister appeared before the committee alongside the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mamuda Mamman, and other senior officials.
The disclosure comes amid ongoing efforts to reform Nigeria’s electricity value chain following the passage of the Electricity Act, which decentralised the sector and expanded the role of states in power generation and distribution.
