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As part of the efforts towards expanding the scope of electricity supply to Nigerians, the Federal Ministry of Power has begun moves to collaborate with the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to increase power generation and make supply more stable, effective, and reliable.
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, when he received the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Anthony Ekedewa, in his office in Abuja. Adelabu said the collaboration would boost power generation and stabilise the power sector as part of the reforms being undertaken in the sector.
As an advanced level of power generation, the Minister said the country would benefit significantly from a nuclear power plant especially, with the technology that will come in as it will make power generation less cumbersome. He said the participation of the commission in the power sector was long overdue and promised to work with the agency.
Adelabu however advised against the proposed establishment of four power plants with capacity to generate 1200 MW each by the Commission. He said modular nuclear reactor is the way to go especially with the way the government has decentralised the sector.
“This is an area that states can benefit from. A lot of investment has gone into the development of the commission over the years and Nigeria should start reaping from the investment.”
According to him, although the process is tedious and costly, the outcome is more beneficial to the country adding that nuclear power plant is an advanced stage of energy generation.
“I wish we are there already in this country, but we are not there yet. We should however ask ourselves, how much of the conventional source of energy have we exploited? Nuclear power plant tends to be at the lower end of concern over the years, but we have to understand that nuclear energy is the future of energy generation.”
He recognises that there had not been much done in areas of collaboration between the Ministry and the Commission.
“We have not been having this rapport in the past, but I’m happy we are starting from somewhere now and I believe that we will sustain it for the overall benefit of our country. This is an advanced level of energy generation, but we must also embrace it because whatever that can add value to our power sector, we must embrace.
“As we all know, leaders would naturally want projects that would materialise in their time in office but any serious government will know that this is the future of the sector. Nuclear energy is the future of power generation. So, we must partner with you on how to improve the sector and this meeting is a right step in the right direction. We have formally established a relationship with you and we have so much to benefit from each other,” the Minister said.
The Minister proposed a workshop by both the ministry and the commission with other stakeholders in the power sector in attendance in order to brainstorm on how the collaboration can be better sustained and beneficial.
“As we all know, this is not a cheap thing but we can start with a workshop where experts from your side and our side will brainstorm and work out how we can further benefit from each other. We are reforming the power sector and this will be the most appropriate time for this kind of collaboration as states are now having their own power projects. This is certainly for the future of this country and it is important we make progress on it,” Adelabu said.
Earlier, Ekedawa briefed the Minister on the activities of the commission, which he said was established in 1976, by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a military head of state. He said, as a renewable energy, nuclear energy could power the entire country. He said the Commission is proposing the establishment of nuclear power plants with the capacity to generate about 1200MW.
“We want to work and partner with you in the area of power generation. We can be a base load for the country and we have two possible sites, Geregu in Kogi State and Idu in Akwa Ibom State. We have carried out the feasibility studies. This collaboration is part of our energy policy, but we are however limited by resources to undertake this project,” Ekedewa said.
Along with the Acting Chairman during the visit were Prof Abdullahi Mati, Awwal Bisallah, and Justice Sule.
