Aso Rock is preparing to go off the national electricity grid. The State House says the Presidential Villa will switch fully to solar power by March 2026, once ongoing testing is completed.
State House Permanent Secretary, Temitope Fashedemi, disclosed this on Wednesday while defending the 2026 budget before the Senate Committee on Special Duties in Abuja.
He said the solar project was completed towards the end of 2025 and has been undergoing tests since December.
Fashedemi said the move will save the government huge costs, adding that the State House Medical Centre has already been running on solar since May 2025.
According to him, the facility only used about three percent electricity from AEDC in a few months, with the rest coming from solar and battery storage.
The Federal Government budgeted N10 billion for the Villa solar mini grid project in 2025, and another N7 billion has been proposed in the 2026 budget.
Some critics have questioned the decision, saying it reflects the government’s failure to fix the country’s broader electricity challenges.
Fashedemi also complained about overbilling by AEDC during the testing period, claiming transformers were charging for power that was not supplied. He said the government is now pushing for reconciliation of what he called legacy liabilities.
He added that the solar project will reduce the need to replace ageing generators at the Villa, which have been under pressure from service providers.
Meanwhile, committee chairman Senator Kaka Lawan criticised the N127 million allocation for SUVs in the State House budget, saying it is too small.
“It cannot buy even a bulletproof tokunbo,” he said, calling for a review.
