President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the immediate release and clearance of more than 300 shipping containers packed with crucial electrical equipment that have remained stranded across maritime ports in Nigeria for up to two decades.
The Minister of Power, Olasunkanmi Joseph Tegbe, shared the development following a Federal Executive Council session at the State House, according to Tribune Online. The stranded shipments contain vital national grid components such as high-capacity transformers, switchgear, and cables.
These materials were procured from manufacturers in overseas locations including Germany and China due to a shortage of domestic industrial capacity for such specialised specifications. They arrived through multiple initiatives, including the National Integrated Power Project, donor-backed programmes run by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, and the Presidential Power Initiative.
The consignments were originally intended to upgrade grid transmission capacity from 5,000 megawatts to 19,000 megawatts through the East and West Super Grids. The parts were also scheduled to support completed substations like Katampe and Ikeja West, alongside major transmission paths spanning Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.
Instead, the containers sat stranded at facilities such as Apapa and Onne across the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari. Official explanations show the prolonged delay stemmed from uncoordinated administrative actions, unresolved Nigeria Customs Service clearance, and unsettled port charges accrued through the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Under the new presidential order, the Ministry of Power will collaborate closely with the customs service and port authorities to clear the backlogs. A team of specialised technical experts has also been instructed to audit and examine the contents of each container.
The evaluation will verify what parts remain intact and functional after years of neglect. Components deemed viable will be forwarded to active transmission sites, while outdated and unusable materials will be formally discarded.
