INDUSTRIAL GROWTH HINGES ON ENERGY: President Tinubu Tells Siemens Power Sector Is Key to Jobs, Education, and Economic Recovery

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu today, Monday, November 10, 2025, reiterated his administration’s unwavering commitment to transforming Nigeria’s electricity supply, asserting that the power sector is the most crucial engine for national economic recovery, job creation, and sectoral development.

The President made the assertion during a high-stakes meeting at the State House with a delegation from Siemens Energy, the technical contractor for the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), led by its Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Dietmar Siersdorfer.

“There is no industrial growth or economic development without power. I believe that power is the most significant discovery of humanity in the last 1,000 years,” President Tinubu declared. He stressed that a stable power sector is indispensable to achieving the nation’s goals, noting that “Our education, our health care and our transportation all depend on energy, and without power, it is an impossible objective.”

New Directives and Progress Check

While commending the partnership, the President acknowledged that the progress on the PPI, though notable, “is not where we want it to be,” underscoring his desire for accelerated implementation. To boost national transmission capacity immediately, President Tinubu directed the expansion of major transformer substations currently under the initiative from two to three phases.

Briefing the President, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, highlighted significant sector reforms, including the decentralisation and liberalization of the sector following the enactment of the Electricity Act 2023. Adelabu confirmed that this policy shift has successfully activated fifteen state electricity markets and attracted over $2.2 billion in fresh investments.

The Minister updated the President on the PPI’s progress, stating that civil works mobilisation has been finalized for the first batch of five substations (Abeokuta, Offa, Ayede-Ibadan, Sokoto, and Onitsha), with two of them targeted for completion by the end of 2026.

The President assured the German firm of the Federal Government’s commitment to providing all necessary resources to ensure the completion of the phased power project, which he believes will unlock Nigeria’s full potential and elevate its stature on the African continent.