The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has stated that electricity grids should receive the same strategic attention traditionally accorded to fuel supplies in global energy security planning.
According to a statement by his media aide, Adeola Labzy, Tegbe made the call on Tuesday while delivering a keynote address at the opening plenary of the Middle East Energy 2026 Leadership Summit in Dubai.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Energy Security and the Effect of Geopolitics’, at the 50th edition of the summit, the minister said the changing global energy landscape had made resilient electricity infrastructure critical to national and international security.
He argued that energy security could no longer be measured by the availability of hydrocarbon reserves alone, but should encompass the resilience of the entire energy system, including critical mineral supply chains, grid infrastructure, capital and institutions.
According to him, the ability of countries to keep electricity flowing to homes, hospitals and industries during periods of geopolitical and economic stress should be regarded as a strategic priority.
He said Nigeria’s power sector reforms were aimed at creating the certainty required to attract investment, citing regulatory certainty, contract sanctity and bankable offtake arrangements as essential to the success of the reforms.
“The minister set out four propositions for the summit’s delegates: that diversification, not diplomatic disengagement, is the surest form of strategic insurance; that grids now deserve the same strategic seriousness historically reserved for fuel supply; that affordability is itself a security issue; and that the global energy transition must be orderly, just and responsive to the circumstances of individual nations,” the statement read partly.
He also identified affordability as a security issue and called for an orderly and just global energy transition that takes into account the circumstances of individual countries.
Tegbe pointed to Nigeria’s more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and its two-decade record of reliable LNG supply to Europe and Asia, positioning the country as an important player in the global energy security conversation.
He also described the Electricity Act 2023 as the most far-reaching reform of Nigeria’s power sector in a generation, noting that it ended the longstanding Federal Government monopoly and created 37 emerging electricity markets across the federation.
The minister said the reforms were being implemented under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, adding that Nigeria’s experience could provide a model for other developing economies seeking to strengthen their energy systems.
Tegbe said, “Capital does not flee risk; it flees uncertainty. Investors will price risk all day long; what they cannot price is a rule that changes after the contract is signed.”
He argued that Africa, home to 600 million people still without electricity, sits not at the periphery of global energy geopolitics but at its centre, pointing to the continent’s mineral wealth, solar resource, youthful workforce and fast-growing demand as factors that will shape energy security in London, Tokyo, Washington and Dubai alike in the decades ahead.
He said Africa’s mineral wealth, solar resources, youthful workforce and rapidly growing energy demand meant that the continent would play a central role in shaping global energy security.
