PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu’s reported approval of ₦10 billion or about €5.58m for a solar mini-grid at the Presidential Villa is more than a technical upgrade. It is a powerful political statement.
By taking Aso Rock off the national electricity grid, Nigeria’s number one citizen has done what millions of Nigerians have been forced to do – show a stark vote of no confidence in the country’s struggling national grid.
“This move carries profound symbolism. It is at once a vote of no confidence in the national grid and a bold embrace of energy decentralisation,” Collins Nweke, a former green councillor at Ostend City Council, Belgium, said.
He added, “It also raises pressing questions: if the Presidency can’t trust the national power supply, what hope is left for the average Nigerian business or household? And is this the beginning of a systemic reform? Or can this mark the cementing of elite energy privilege?”
This newspaper had reported that N10 billion was allocated in the 2025 Appropriation Act for the installation of a solar mini-grid at the Presidential Villa, following increased energy bills and unreliable electricity supply from the national grid.
Listed as ‘Solarisation of the Villa with Solar Mini Grid,’ the new capital item caused an increase in overall budgetary allocation to the State House Headquarters from N47.11bn in the initially proposed 2025 budget to N57.11bn in the approved version.
The project is expected to reduce dependence on the national grid and cut energy costs for the State House, especially considering that the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) listed the Presidential Villa among top government debtors, with an outstanding bill of N923.87 million in February 2024.
The presidency initially disputed the figure, but after a reconciliation process, it acknowledged a debt of N342 million, which President Bola Tinubu ordered to be paid immediately.
According to GovSpend, a public finance tracking platform, the presidency spent more than N483 million on electricity in 2024 alone. A large chunk of that came from a lump-sum payment of N316.88 million in October 2024, presumably to settle part of the backlog.
Meanwhile, the State House has continued to burn millions on diesel. In the three months following that payment, records show that over N88 million was spent on diesel alone — a signal that power from the national grid, even when paid for, isn’t always available.
The scale of the Villa’s power consumption has since become a matter of national interest.
“If the presidency can go solar, it sends a strong message to other government institutions and private entities to follow suit,” said Tunde Adebayo, an energy consultant. “Decentralised renewable energy is the way forward.”
Aisha Mohammed, an energy analyst at the Lagos-based Center for Development Studies, said the move by Aso Rock to spend N10 billion on solar power is raising serious questions, not just about the presidency’s energy choices but also about the message it sends to a nation whose power sector is already wobbling under the weight of high tariffs, low supply, and dwindling public trust.
“For ordinary Nigerians who are grappling with record-high electricity costs and epileptic supply, the question now is: if the Villa can’t cope with grid electricity, how are the rest of the country’s consumers supposed to survive?” Mohammed asked.
Apart from experts, many Nigerians on the X social media platform have berated the presidency for spending billions on solar energy solutions while the citizenry grapple with increased energy costs and epileptic power supply from the national grid.
Olawale Ogunlana, a medical doctor, said, “The leaders who promised us constant electricity and to restore our national grid are currently installing solar panels. Nigeria is such a wonderful place.”
@DuruchibuzorE wrote, “This N10 billion ‘solar mini-grid’ project at the Presidential Villa is not innovation; it’s a white elephant designed to drain public coffers with a solar smile.
“How do you justify spending ₦10 billion on powering one building when the national grid is in cardiac arrest?”
David Onyemaizu, a writer, posted, “This current administration knows exactly what they are doing. They took themselves off the failed National Grid & are set to install solar power that would gulp 10 billion naira.
“Nothing concerns them with band A or Z. Comfort for the government, misery for the masses.”
Nigeria’s installed capacity of 13,000 megawatts (MW) sounds promising—until reality hits. On any given day, less than 5,000 MW reaches consumers, plunging households and industries into darkness and forcing reliance on expensive alternatives.
The Tinubu administration has pledged to boost renewable energy, including solar and hydro projects, but progress has been slow. The Rural Electrification Agency (REA)’s Solar Power Naija programme, aimed at providing solar home systems to five million households, has only reached a fraction of its target.
Meanwhile, South Africa, Morocco, and Kenya are surging ahead with large-scale solar and wind farms, leaving Nigeria, with its abundant sunshine, behind.