The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says power generation will increase this year by 2,000 mega watts.
This was contained in a statement signed by Etore Thomas, Assistant Director (Press), of the ministry on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to the statement, the increase is due to plans undertaken by the present administration in the sector.
It stated that Fashola made the statement while he was defending the Ministry’s budget before the Senate Committee on Power and Mines.
It added that a lot had changed in the management of power in the country in recent times.
The statement stated that distribution of power was no longer government business, but had been taken over by private companies.
It stated that government privatised power generation with transmission aspect being managed by Manitoba International of Canada at present.
According to the statement, the 2016 budget focuses more on the transmission, completion of ongoing projects, refurbishing power plants and tackling gas supply issues.
The statement stated that if all these were addressed, the expected projection would boost electricity generation in the country.
It added that the ministry planned to take its role as a policy maker seriously while agencies would be tasked more on implementation and execution of government’s agenda for the industry.
The statement quoted the Chairman of the committee, Senator James Manager, as saying: “The ministry should think out of the box if it wanted to achieve its goals in the sector.”
The statement stated further that Nigerians would reap from the sacrifices they incurred in increase in tariff by enjoying uninterrupted power supply.
