Jennifer Adighije at Two: Rebuilding NDPHC, restoring value
By Francis Emechete
As Engr. Jennifer Adighije marks her second anniversary as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC), the most meaningful assessment of her tenure may not be found in speeches, policy pronouncements or ceremonial milestones, but in what has happened to the company’s assets, projects, finances and institutional processes under her leadership.
Appointed in August 2024 and formally assuming office on August 26, Adighije inherited a company operating within the familiar but formidable realities of Nigeria’s electricity sector: dormant generation assets, gas supply constraints, weak market liquidity, legacy contractual disputes, stranded equipment, revenue pressures and, perhaps most frustratingly, the persistent gap between the country’s installed generation capacity and the electricity actually available to consumers.
Two years on, while some of these structural challenges remain, there is a discernible change in direction at NDPHC.
The emerging story is one of recovery, optimisation, commercial discipline and institutional repositioning, a deliberate attempt to convert dormant or underutilised public assets into productive national value.
Recovering What Nigeria Already Has
Perhaps the clearest signature of Adighije’s tenure has been the decision to make the recovery of existing assets a central pillar of NDPHC’s operational strategy.
Rather than approaching Nigeria’s electricity deficit principally through the construction of new generation capacity, her administration has placed significant emphasis on recovering generation capacity that had become unavailable because of technical, contractual, commercial or operational challenges.
Within her first year, NDPHC reported the restoration of 625MW of generation capacity to the national grid. The company also reported the recovery of six previously dormant gas turbines across its fleet, including units at Calabar, Omotosho II, Benin, Sapele and Alaoji.
The logic is compelling. In an industry where billions of dollars are required to build new generation infrastructure, recovering existing capacity can produce significantly faster results where the underlying assets remain technically viable.
It is therefore not simply an engineering strategy. It is a strategy of capital efficiency.
The restoration of two turbine units at the 450MW Ihovbor Power Plant is a good example. The intervention returned an additional 230MW of capacity, while reported generation increased substantially from 9,600MWh in August 2024 to 39,726MWh by April 2025. That distinction matters. The story is not merely about installed megawatts. It is about utilisation.
The Alaoji Breakthrough
If there is one project that arguably captures the character of the Adighije administration, it is the revival of the Alaoji Power Plant in Abia State.
The 450MW Alaoji Open Cycle Power Plant had been shut down since 2023 following gas supply and metering disputes. Its restoration therefore required more than mechanical intervention. It required the resolution of the commercial and contractual circumstances that had effectively immobilised the plant.
Under Jennifer Adighije’s leadership, NDPHC prioritised the restoration of the facility, undertook remedial work on the defective gas line, settled outstanding obligations to TotalEnergies and secured the reinstatement of gas supply. Extensive electromechanical rehabilitation followed.
Three generating units; GT1, GT22 and GT23 have since been restored and are capable of dispatching approximately 375MW to the national grid.
The broader lesson from Alaoji is perhaps more important than the megawatts recovered.
Technical problems in the Nigerian power sector cannot always be separated from commercial, contractual and regulatory problems. Solving them therefore requires leadership capable of looking across the entire value chain rather than treating generation as an isolated engineering function.
Geregu and the Culture of Preventive Asset Management
Another significant development has been the completion of scheduled maintenance at the Geregu NIPP.
In December 2025, NDPHC announced the restoration of an additional 450MW of generation capacity following a four-week extended inspection undertaken by Siemens Energy. The exercise was aimed at improving operational reliability and efficiency while extending the plant’s Equivalent Operating Hours and useful operating life. This is significant because sustainable generation cannot depend indefinitely on emergency interventions after equipment fails.
Nigeria must increasingly embrace preventive maintenance, inspection, risk engineering and disciplined asset-life management if it is to extract maximum value from the billions already invested in power infrastructure.
NDPHC’s 2025 Risk Engineering Survey programme, covering major facilities including Olorunsogo and Geregu, further reflected this direction, with emphasis on identifying risks and implementing measures to improve operational efficiency, infrastructure safety and risk management.
The emerging philosophy is clear: asset preservation is not merely an engineering obligation; it is an economic strategy.
Bringing Stranded Assets Back into the National Conversation
Perhaps equally significant has been the attention given to assets that have remained stranded for years.
The recovery of 110 containers and 216 packages of critical power equipment from Nigerian ports is one of the most striking examples.
Some of the equipment had been procured as far back as 2007 for NIPP projects but remained stranded because of contractual and litigation-related complications. Under the current management, NDPHC worked with the Nigeria Customs Service and secured the necessary waivers to recover the equipment for possible deployment in ongoing power projects. The recovery protected an estimated value of more than ₦20 billion. The significance goes beyond the money.
It sends an important institutional message: public assets cannot be allowed to remain indefinitely trapped by administrative inertia, unresolved contractual disputes or institutional fragmentation.
In a country where significant public investments remain tied up in unfinished projects, abandoned equipment and dormant infrastructure, that mindset is particularly important.
Gbarain: Moving a Dormant 225MW Asset Towards Recovery.
The same philosophy is evident in the renewed attention to the 225MW Gbarain NIPP Power Plant in Bayelsa State. The facility had remained out of service since November 2020 after a fire destroyed its Power Control Module, effectively preventing the plant from becoming the productive asset it was designed to be.
On July 2026, NDPHC under the leadership of Engr. Adighije issued the Notice to Proceed and handed the rehabilitation project to Schneider Electric/TILT Energy. The restoration is targeted for completion within 12 months, with the expectation that the plant will return another significant generation asset to service. The development is important because it demonstrates that the recovery agenda is no longer confined to relatively quick wins. It is increasingly extending to complex assets requiring substantial technical, contractual and administrative intervention.
Financial Discipline and the Pursuit of Value
The less visible but arguably equally important dimension of the past two years has been financial management.
NDPHC reported more than $10 million in recovered insurance claims relating to longstanding cases and more than $12 million in recovered legacy debts from bilateral customers during its 2025 performance period.
The company also reported the resolution of a longstanding gas-supply contractual dispute, resulting in amendments that delivered significant savings to government and established more sustainable arrangements for gas supply to power generation.
These interventions may not generate the same public excitement as the commissioning of a power plant, but they are central to the sustainability of a public institution managing assets of national strategic importance.
Recovering money owed, reducing avoidable costs and resolving legacy liabilities are, in their own way, forms of generation; generation of value.
A New Commercial Thinking for NDPHC
Another defining feature of the Adighije era has been an attempt to rethink NDPHC’s commercial model.
For years, the Nigerian electricity market has operated under severe liquidity constraints, with generation companies frequently affected by weak payment performance and accumulated market debts.
Against this background, NDPHC has pursued bilateral electricity sales to eligible customers as an alternative commercial pathway.
The proposition is straightforward: where NDPHC has available power and can identify creditworthy eligible customers, bilateral arrangements can potentially create stronger revenue certainty, improve liquidity and reduce exposure to some of the weaknesses associated with the centralised market.
Adighije has consistently presented the strategy as part of a broader effort to diversify NDPHC’s revenue base and strengthen its financial sustainability.
The strategy has become even more relevant as the Electricity Act 2023 reshapes Nigeria’s electricity market and creates greater room for state-level and bilateral electricity markets.
NDPHC’s continued promotion of its Eligible Customer Programme, particularly among industrial and commercial consumers, reflects a changing mindset.
The question is no longer simply: How much power can NDPHC generate?
It is increasing: Who can reliably consume that power, how can it be delivered, and how can the transaction create sustainable value?
That is a fundamentally more commercial way of looking at electricity.
Transmission: The Missing Link
Generation without evacuation is of limited economic value.
Adighije’s tenure has therefore also placed considerable attention on transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Within her first year, NDPHC announced a proposed ₦500 billion investment in transmission infrastructure, reflecting an understanding that additional generation must be matched by adequate evacuation capacity.
The company has also reported progress on significant transmission and distribution projects, including the Afam–Ikot Ekpene 330kV transmission line and projects in Borno and Delta States.
The strategic implication is significant.
NDPHC’s role is increasingly being viewed through the interconnectedness of generation, transmission, distribution and commercial offtake. The company cannot maximise its generation portfolio without addressing the infrastructure and market structures that enable electricity to reach consumers.
A Pragmatic Energy Transition
While thermal generation remains central to NDPHC’s existing portfolio, the Adighije administration has also signalled a willingness to position the company for Nigeria’s evolving energy transition.
For Nigeria, energy transition cannot realistically mean an immediate abandonment of gas-fired generation.
The more practical challenge is to build a system in which gas provides dependable transitional and baseload capacity while renewable energy progressively expands its contribution.
That pragmatic understanding is important.
Nigeria needs to pursue cleaner energy without losing sight of the immediate requirement for reliable and affordable electricity.
Human Capital and Institutional Renewal
Ultimately, no institution can be transformed without transforming the people and processes that drive it.
The management under Adighije has undertaken organisational and process reforms aimed at improving project execution, operational efficiency and staff productivity.
During her first 100 days, she led extensive inspections of NDPHC power plants, strengthened engagement with distribution companies, regulators and government stakeholders, and pursued partnerships aimed at financing future projects.
This emphasis on people, systems and institutional capacity may ultimately prove more consequential than any individual project.
Power plants can be rehabilitated. Transmission lines can be constructed. Equipment can be recovered. But unless the institution itself becomes stronger, such gains may not endure.
Strengthening Stakeholder Confidence
Another notable feature of the past two years has been a deliberate effort to improve NDPHC’s engagement across the electricity value chain.
Adighije has consistently emphasised collaboration with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian Independent System Operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, state governments, distribution companies and eligible customers.
That approach is particularly relevant in the post-Electricity Act 2023 environment, where Nigeria’s electricity market is becoming increasingly decentralised and commercially complex. NDPHC can no longer operate effectively in isolation.
Leadership That Has Attracted Recognition
Adighije’s leadership has also attracted professional and institutional recognition.
In July 2025, she was conferred with the Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, one of the country’s foremost professional engineering recognitions. Her leadership has also received recognition from other organisations, including acknowledgements among influential global voices and plethora of awards from the Civil Society Alliance for Transparency and Development for reform-oriented leadership.
Awards, of course, should never be confused with institutional performance. Ultimately, the balance sheet of leadership is written in outcomes. Yet the recognition does provide an indication that her leadership has attracted attention beyond NDPHC itself.
More importantly, there appears to be a discernible change in the questions being asked about NDPHC’s assets.
Why is this plant idle?
Why is this equipment stranded?
Why is this asset underperforming?
Why is revenue not being collected?
Why is a contractual dispute preventing productive capacity from being deployed?
Why should an asset remain dormant when the country urgently needs electricity?
That mindset may well prove to be one of the most consequential developments of the past two years.
The Road Ahead
The next phase must be about consolidation, institutionalisation and scale. As Engr. Jennifer Adighije continues to demonstrate exemplary leadership, the priority should be to embed the reforms, deepen commercial discipline, sustain asset recovery and translate operational gains into enduring institutional value.
Two years on, her record is one of recovery, optimisation and repositioning, not merely adding megawatts, but recovering what had been lost, restoring what had become dormant, unlocking stranded value and strengthening the systems required for sustainable performance.
The pathway forward is therefore clear: sustain the momentum, institutionalise the gains, unlock further value from NDPHC’s vast asset base, deepen strategic partnerships and build an institution whose impact endures beyond any individual tenure.
If that trajectory is sustained, the most enduring legacy of Engr. Adighije’s leadership may well be not only what NDPHC achieves under her watch, but the stronger, more commercially disciplined and strategically positioned institution she leaves behind.
Francis is an Energy Lawyer and writes from Abuja.