In a press release, the Ministry of Power denied media reports that Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, the Minister of Power, had promised to resolve Nigeria’s frequent grid collapses in three months.
The reports, according to the statement released on Thursday, are “a clear misrepresentation” of what the Minister said during his Senate screening on May 6, 2026.
Adeola Adelabu, the ministry’s spokesperson, claims that Tegbe “made no such commitment” and only said that attempts to stabilise the grid would start during his first 100 days in office.
We compared the spokesperson’s statement with the actual transcript of Tegbe’s Senate remarks to determine the truth.
Tegbe’s words:
Examining the screening transcript reveals that Tegbe did not state:
“In three months, I’ll fix grid collapse.”
He did, however, make a number of remarks that connected his suggested changes to a three-month timeframe.
“I promise to Nigerians and to this chamber that Nigerians will see visible improvement in the sector,” Tegbe stated in front of the Senate. You won’t see this in six months if you don’t see it in three. You have to hold us responsible for it and see it within three months.
“There are questions around grid collapse, and the next phase, in 100 days, is to stabilise that grid,” he continued in reference to the national grid.
Tegbe also talked about more general reforms pertaining to metering, tariff structures, sector liquidity, gas supply, and the sustainability of the electricity market, suggesting that some structural issues would necessitate longer-term solutions.
What The Spokesperson Said: “Mr. Tegbe made no such commitment,” the spokesperson said in the rebuttal press release. He made it clear that the timelines are still being worked on and are dependent on stakeholder engagements and diagnostics.
“Initial grid stabilisation efforts would commence within the first 100 days,” the statement added, adding that more extensive sectoral reforms might take up to a year.
Tegbe’s assurance that Nigerians would witness “visible improvement in the sector” was also cited in the release.
His subsequent comment, “If you don’t see this in three months, it means you won’t see it in six months,” was left out of the statement.
Results
The spokesperson’s rebuttal is deceptive, according to the fact check.
Tegbe never made a clear commitment to totally eradicate grid collapse within three months, as the transcript attests. As a result, headlines implying that he made a firm commitment to “fix grid collapse in three months” exaggerated what he actually said.
However, by promising “visible improvement” and asking Nigerians to hold him responsible if such progress was not observed within that time frame, Tegbe clearly tied public expectations to a three-month performance window.
The public’s perception that the administration aimed to make quantifiable progress on grid reliability within about three months was reasonably reinforced by his additional statement about stabilising the grid within 100 days.
The spokesperson’s rebuttal offered a softer interpretation of Tegbe’s initial remarks by omitting his strongest timeline-based remarks.
Partially accurate: Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe did not say outright that he would put an end to grid collapse in three months.
Nonetheless, he made it clear that the power industry would see noticeable improvements within that time frame and connected his first 100 days to initiatives to stabilise the country’s grid.
The spokesperson’s statement made an effort to rectify how Tegbe’s comments were interpreted, but it left out important passages from the transcript that reinforced the public’s impression of a three-month commitment to grid stability.
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