Juliet Jacob 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has inaugurated a high-powered Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee tasked with ending the persistent electricity shortages that continue to cripple healthcare delivery across the country.
The committee, created under the Nigeria Power-for-Health Initiative (NPHI), will coordinate and harmonise all electrification interventions across federal, state and primary healthcare facilities. Authorities say the goal is clear: to eliminate the sector’s dependence on unreliable generators and ensure uninterrupted power for critical care.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, who co-chairs the committee alongside the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, said at Monday’s inauguration that stable electricity is essential to any functioning health system.
“Many health facilities either rely on poorly maintained generators or operate without electricity at all. This continues to undermine emergency response, maternal care, surgeries and other essential services,” Salako said.
He noted that the health sector has suffered for years from fragmented, donor-led and uncoordinated electrification schemes. The NPHI, he stressed, seeks to consolidate these efforts into a single, government-led but private-sector-driven strategy.
The inter-ministerial structure brings together experts from the health and power sectors to ensure effective implementation, minimise duplication and properly channel resources toward facilities most in need.
The committee’s mandate includes Scaling up renewable energy systems for hospitals and clinics, enhancing grid connections for facilities in urban and semi-urban areas, prioritising power solutions for critical care units that require constant electricity, and creating a unified database of electrification needs and progress.
For decades, Nigeria’s healthcare system has operated under severe energy constraints, especially in rural areas where diesel generators are costly, unreliable, or difficult to fuel.
Officials say the new framework represents a shift toward sustainable, cost-efficient and climate-friendly energy solutions, with the potential to save thousands of lives annually.
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Mirian Gom 
Korede Abdullah 
Oluwafunbi Bello