FG and NASS Back Cooperation Among Electricity Regulators

To make the Nigerian Electricity Market work better, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the National Assembly have shown their commitment to supporting the roles of electricity regulators.

Top officials and lawmakers shared their views at a workshop in Abuja. The event focused on the ‘Legal, Policy and Regulatory Harmonisation between Federal and State Institutions on the Decentralisation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry’.

Rilwan Lanre Babalola, the Special Adviser to the President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration, spoke about the importance of electricity. He said it is key for industrial growth, economic strength, job creation, and national success.

He urged everyone at the workshop to see this transition as a chance to work together for a unified Nigerian electricity market. He said they should not act like separate institutions protecting their own areas.

“Every major reform creates new opportunities. It also creates new interfaces. As Federal and State institutions take on their roles, questions will naturally arise regarding regulatory boundaries, market oversight, technical standards and commercial arrangements. That is not a weakness of the reform. It is the natural consequence of institutional evolution.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that these questions are resolved through dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect. The Electricity Act decentralises aspects of governance. It does not decentralise the physics of electricity. Our networks remain interconnected. Our markets remain interdependent. Our prosperity remains shared. That is why harmonisation is not optional. It is fundamental to preserving an efficient Nigerian electricity market,” Mr Babalola stated.

Senate Committee on Power Chairman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, also spoke. He reaffirmed the committee’s commitment to creating a law that allows Federal and State electricity regulators to work together.

He said, “Ultimately, the success of decentralisation should not be measured merely by the number of States that established electricity markets or obtained transfer orders. Rather, success should be measured by whether Nigeria achieves a coherent, efficient, bankable, and integrated electricity market in which federal and State institutions perform complementary rather than competing roles. We therefore require harmonised rules governing the relationship between NERC and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.”

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Musiliu Oseni, also discussed the need for better coordination of regulatory and operational activities in the electricity sector.