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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Metering gaps and the push to decentralise Nigeria’s electricity system are natural priorities for the newly appointed Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe and the President’s Special Adviser/ Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration, Mr. Lanre Babalola.
Their appointments last week signalled a renewed focus on tackling longstanding inefficiencies in the sector, particularly estimated billing and the over-centralised grid structure that has continued to limit reliable power supply.
Early indications suggest both officials will be under pressure to deliver reforms that can improve transparency, boost investor confidence, and expand access to electricity across the country.
In an industry feeler to the two newly appointed officials, energy policy analyst and Team Lead, Bloomfield Law Practice, Mr. Ayodele Oni, said in their first weeks on the job, Messrs. Tegbe and Babalola should resist the urge to make big announcements because Nigerians have heard enough of those. He advised that what is needed instead is quiet, focused work on three fronts.
He added that the two appointees should pick two or three quick wins that ordinary people can actually see: stabilise gas supply to the power plants, publish a real metering plan, with monthly targets that the public can track, then go on and show Nigerians and industry operators, in plain numbers, how the sector’s debts will be settled and stopped from piling up again and then report back, openly and on schedule.
“They should then listen and listen quickly. Sit down with the GenCos, the DisCos, the gas suppliers, NERC, NISO, organised labour, the manufacturers, and the State Commissioners now running their own electricity markets.
The truth is that the problems in this sector are not a mystery. The people closest to the pipes, the wires and the meters already know what is broken and what needs to be done. The new team only needs the humility to hear them out,”
Oni counseled that both men must stay in their respective lanes, stating that the Minister is the political head, the policy man, and the one answerable to Nigerians and to the National Assembly while the Special Adviser leads a task force with a 90-day delivery brief, fixing tariffs, plugging revenue leaks, restoring discipline on the grid, and rolling out the Electricity Growth Zones.
“If both men start chasing the same files and the same headlines, this so-called reset will collapse into turf wars long before any electron reaches a Nigerian home.
Because let us be honest with ourselves: Nigerians are tired of communiqués. Confidence in the power sector will not be rebuilt with press statements or photo-ops at the Villa. It will be rebuilt the day the grid stops collapsing. The day the tailor in Aba notices her diesel bill is finally coming down. The day figures on generation, gas supply and DisCo collections are put out in the open, so that we, the public, can hold this new team to their own promises. That is the bar. Anything less will be dismissed, fairly or not, as just another reshuffle,”.
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On their part, the Egbiri Community Development Association (CDA), equally called on the appointees to take the issue of metering, decentralization of electricity and attention to power infrastructure seriously.
A member of the group, Mr. Olalekan Akinbowale, called on the new Minister and the Special Adviser to prioritize decentralised power solutions, enforce rapid metering to eliminate estimated billing, and strengthen distribution infrastructure.
He listed key expectations to include: improved Band A supply reliability, increased local generation through state-federal collaboration, and infrastructure protection to prevent grid collapses.
Also speaking, the Balogun of Egbiri Community, Chief Peter Osho, stated that both public officers should take the issue of replacement of ageing power infrastructure seriously by compelling the Discos to invest more in withdrawing old transformers, cables and poles and replacing them with new ones.
“For instance, there are a lot of these obsolete equipment within our domain that need urgent replacement, especially a new 500Kva transformer in Egbiri CDA through the Presidential Power Initiative,’’.
Recall that President Tinubu had last week appointed former Minister of Power, Lanre Babalola, as Special Adviser on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The appointment was disclosed on Thursday, April 30, in a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Babalola’s appointment came barely an hour after the presidency announced the nomination of Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe as Minister of Power.
As part of the new arrangement, the President redesignated the Office of the Special Adviser (Energy) to Special Adviser (Oil & Gas) to avoid overlap in responsibilities within the energy governance framework.
This allows Babalola, who previously served as Minister of Power between December 2008 and March 2010, to focus on advising the President on power while overseeing the newly created Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The presidency said the task force will operate as a high-level intervention body with a direct mandate from the President to drive reforms and coordination across the sector.
