By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to convert 21 idle dams discovered along the Sokoto-Badagry Road into commercially viable hydro power projects, as part of efforts to optimise public assets and end Nigeria’s decades-long electricity supply challenges.
The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this on Wednesday, 26 August, 2026 in Abuja at the launch of the Renewable Energy Asset Management Company, where he explained that the discovery of the dams during the ongoing road construction raised questions about why such infrastructure had remained abandoned for many years.
“And again, in the course of the construction of the Sokoto-Badagry Road, 21 dams were discovered. How can we have 21 dams lying fallow?” he asked.
Explaining the government’s plan for the facilities, Tegbe said he had received the mandate of President Bola Tinubu to put the dams into productive use, disclosing that the power sector was developing a policy on small-scale hydro projects to achieve this.
“That’s why in the power sector, we’re also coming up with a policy on small-scale hydro projects. So that the 21 dams discovered along the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway shall be converted into commercially viable projects,” he stated.
The Minister explained that the plan formed part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to optimise public assets and ensure that infrastructure already available was put to productive use, rather than being left idle.
He disclosed that the government was also looking at areas where power assets had become stranded, with plans to connect such assets to locations where electricity was most needed.
“We’re looking at assets in some corridors where we have stranded power and idle power, and we want to channel them to the corridors that need them in Lagos, in Kano, and in Borno areas,” he said.
Tegbe further disclosed that the government was working on grid stabilisation, having identified three major energy zones and corridors comprising the Lagos axis, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, and Enugu-Port Harcourt.
“We’ve identified three major energy zones and corridors: the Lagos axis, Epe, which is all across the main Lagos into the Sagamu axis; Abuja–Kaduna–Kano; and then Enugu–Port Harcourt,” he said.
He explained that technical audits were currently ongoing to determine the condition of infrastructure along the identified corridors, in order to guide the replacement of faulty equipment.
“We’re currently conducting technical audits to identify infrastructure that we have there. How many of our insulators are broken? How many of our conductor relays are falling? How many of our towers are down? And in the next few weeks, once we finish, we’ll start to replace some of the equipment and infrastructure that’s been there for 42 years,” he said.
The minister clarified that the government would not sell its power assets but would instead put them to productive use and leverage them to attract funding.
“And when we do that, we will not sell government assets, but we will put them into good use by putting them on a good balance sheet that we can use to leverage funding when we require it,” he added.
Tegbe explained that the new renewable asset management model was designed to change how public assets were managed, shifting away from a system focused mainly on acquiring and commissioning infrastructure.
He regretted that Nigeria possessed a large stock of power infrastructure but had struggled to guarantee reliable electricity supply to its citizens.
“Nigeria has lived too long with an embarrassing paradox. We’re very rich in power assets, energy resources, and installed infrastructure, yet we’re poor in the ability to depend on electricity,” he said.
He stated that the government’s ambition extended beyond merely ending grid collapse, disclosing that electricity infrastructure was being positioned to support economic growth, industrial development and Nigeria’s digital future.
“Our ambition is much bigger than just ending that race. Our ambition is to use electricity to build prosperity, to make Nigeria competitive for manufacturing, and to power the next generation of digital infrastructure,” he stated.
The Minister disclosed that the government was targeting an increase in wheeling capacity from about 5,000 megawatts currently to 6,500 megawatts by the end of 2026, and further to 8,000 megawatts by the end of 2027.
