After months of persistent blackouts, President Bola Tinubu has moved to reset Nigeria’s troubled power sector, nominating a new minister and appointing a former industry chief to lead an emergency reform task force.
In a pair of announcements from the State House, Tinubu nominated Joseph Tegbe as minister of power, subject to Senate confirmation, and named former power minister Lanre Babalola as special adviser on power and chairman of a newly created presidential task force on sector reform.
The presidency said Tegbe’s nomination follows the resignation of Adebayo Adelabu, who stepped down to pursue a governorship bid in Oyo state, opening the door to a broader recalibration of the government’s electricity strategy.
Tegbe, described as a fiscal and economic reform specialist with more than three decades of experience, has worked across public and private sectors, including as senior partner and head of advisory services at KPMG Africa. His career has spanned fiscal policy, governance restructuring and institutional reform, with engagements involving key sector regulators such as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company.
He currently serves as director-general and global liaison for the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership, coordinating bilateral development initiatives aligned with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
According to the presidency, his appointment is intended to inject technical depth into efforts to stabilise the national grid, improve efficiency and attract long-term investment into the electricity value chain.
Alongside the nomination, Tinubu appointed Babalola to oversee a high-level task force charged with driving urgent reforms across the sector. The former minister returns to a portfolio he once supervised, with officials pointing to his familiarity with the structural weaknesses of Nigeria’s electricity market.
The task force is expected to act as a central delivery platform with a direct presidential mandate, focusing on a “performance before expansion” approach to sector management. Its remit includes reducing technical and commercial losses, enforcing tariff discipline, improving revenue collection and restoring operational stability to the grid.
It will also be tasked with enhancing market efficiency, promoting productive electricity use across key industries and developing electricity growth zones to support industrial demand.
In a sign of the administration’s intent to tighten governance within the energy sector, the presidency also announced a redesignation of roles, renaming the office of the special adviser on energy — currently held by Olu Verheijen — as special adviser on oil and gas, in a bid to reduce overlap and clarify responsibilities.
The reform task force is expected to deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint outlining immediate interventions, as the government seeks to curb mounting fiscal pressures linked to the power sector and improve supply reliability.
Officials said the appointments reflect a shift towards a more execution-driven approach under Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda, with an emphasis on measurable outcomes in a sector long plagued by underinvestment, inefficiency and regulatory uncertainty.
“The President expects urgency, discipline and strong execution,” a statement from the presidency said, underscoring the scale of the challenge facing the new team as Nigeria grapples with chronic electricity shortages.
