Honourable Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), Senator George Akume, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, Minister of State, Health and Social Services, Dr Kunle Salako and Commissioner for Health, Ekiti State, Dr Oyebanji Filani at the 1st National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector held at Abuja Continental Hotel Abuja on Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Protocol:
- Your Excellency, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
- The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare
- The Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare,
- Chairman, House Committee on Power,
- Chairman, Senate Committee on Health,
- Development Partners,
- Esteemed Stakeholders from the Power and Health Sectors,
- Ladies and Gentlemen.
1. It is my honour and privilege to welcome you all to this landmark event, the First National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on Power in the Health Sector. Today marks a critical step in our collective effort to strengthen the link between reliable energy access and the delivery of quality healthcare services in Nigeria.
2. The relevance of this National Stakeholders’ Dialogue cannot be overstated, as it provides us with a unique opportunity to focus on the intersection of two critical sectors – power and health. By bringing our collective expertise to the table, we can chart a path that strengthens healthcare delivery by ensuring sustainable, reliable, and affordable electricity supply to facilities across Nigeria, from the primary health centres in rural communities to the teaching hospitals in urban centres so they are fully equipped to serve the needs of our people.
3. Equally important, today is proof that Nigeria is ready to approach development differently. Too often, our sectors have worked in silos, each pursuing their mandate independently. But the challenges facing our nation whether in health, education, or infrastructure are interconnected. Without reliable power, health systems cannot function effectively. Without a healthy population, productivity and economic growth cannot be achieved.
4. By bringing together the power and health sectors, we are sending a clear message: collaboration, cooperation, and partnership is not optional, it is essential. This partnership between both ministries, strengthened by the support of the development partners and private stakeholders, is the model we must replicate across other areas of governance because collaboration is how we turn policies into real impact for our people. To your Excellencies, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare – Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, and the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare – Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, I say a big thank you for also enabling this cooperation between our ministries.
5. The Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President clearly identifies access to power and access to quality healthcare as top national priorities. By powering healthcare, we are advancing both priorities at once. This dialogue is therefore a practical step in operationalising Mr President’s vision on human capital development, infrastructure renewal, and social inclusion.
6. In 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electricity Act, 2023, which allowed for the decentralisation, liberalisation and participation of the subnational government in the sector. The Act also mandated the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Power, to develop the Nigerian Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan (NIEP-SIP). In fulfilment of the statutory mandate, the Federal Ministry of Power developed the National Integrated Electricity Policy (NIEP).These transformative frameworks set a clear roadmap for delivering a resilient, cost-effective, and sustainable power sector. The NIEP-SIP serves as a guiding blueprint for Nigeria’s energy development, addressing areas such as rural electrification, public-private partnerships for universal electricity access, power-source specific policies, bulk power purchase, and management of local distribution in rural areas, among other pertinent aspects as directed by the FG. The NIEP aligns with Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, a bold roadmap to achieve net-zero by 2060, expand renewables and ensure universal energy access.
7. Currently, the Federal Ministry of Power, through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), is deploying solar hybrid mini-grids, standalone solar home systems, and other innovative solutions to electrify hundreds of healthcare centres across the country. For emphasis, REA deployed 50kW solar mini-grid solutions to about 100 healthcare facilities across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic ensuring that critical health centres had uninterrupted power supply to preserve lives, support medical staff, and sustain essential services at a time of unprecedented national emergency.
8. In addition, through the Energizing Education Programme of the REA, we are deploying solar hybrid mini-grids to teaching hospitals across the country. Notably, we have commissioned a 12MW system at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and a 7MW system at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
9. These deployments are not only providing reliable, clean power but also helping to properly segregate electricity supply for clinical activities from that of residential and commercial activities within the hospital environment. With accurate metering in place, this ensures that non-medical businesses do not hide under the hospital’s electricity allocation and make energy bills unaffordable. The hybrid model further allows for an optimal mix of renewable energy and grid supply, thereby reducing costs while guaranteeing sustainable, uninterrupted electricity for critical medical operations. By blending renewable energy with grid supply, hospitals are shielded from the high costs and unreliability that come with depending solely on grid electricity and diesel generators, enabling them to achieve a more stable, predictable, and affordable energy expenditure.
10. These interventions have delivered measurable impact from vaccine storage facilities which are now functional in remote communities where electricity was previously unreliable, to maternal and child health services which are improving in rural areas because doctors and midwives can now conduct deliveries at night with reliable lighting and powered medical equipment, to cold storage for essential medicines which is now possible even in off-grid locations, and emergency services are no longer constrained by darkness or unreliable power supply.
11. These are not abstract achievements they represent real lives being saved, communities being empowered, and healthcare being brought closer to the people. The work of REA demonstrates that sustainable, renewable energy solutions are not just viable but scalable. What we have seen in these pilot projects must now be expanded nationwide.
12. The Federal Ministry of Power, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is further committed to working with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to ensure that no hospital, no primary healthcare centre, and no diagnostic laboratory is left in the dark. We will harness renewable energy, distributed generation, battery energy storage systems, and grid expansion to provide the reliable power backbone that the health sector desperately needs.
13. Ladies and Gentlemen, the task before us is both urgent and achievable. We must scale up electrification projects for healthcare facilities nationwide. We must strengthen policy frameworks that make investment in health-sector electrification attractive and sustainable. We must expand financing structures that blend public funding with private capital and donor support. Most importantly, we must institutionalise collaboration so that no facility, no community, and no Nigerian is left behind. This is not just about powering buildings. It is about powering hope, powering dignity, and powering the future of our nation.
14. In closing, I wish once again to thank His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his leadership and vision to achieving sustainable development across all sectors in the country. I want to also thank the Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare for upholding the ideal of Mr President’s Renewed Hope agenda through this collaboration, our development partners, and all stakeholders represented here for their commitment.
15. Let us leave this dialogue not only with good ideas but with renewed determination to implement them. Let today mark the beginning of a new era where every health facility in Nigeria, no matter how remote, has the electricity it needs to deliver life-saving services.
16. Thank you and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.