The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has called on the Federal Government to rethink its policy on the utilisation of the $2 billion available to the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), urging that a significant portion of the fund be redirected toward addressing the persistent power supply challenges facing Nigeria’s industrial hubs.
Speaking at the NERC 20th Anniversary Celebration held in Abuja, the Commission’s Vice Chairman, Dr. Musiliu Oseni, said the government must adopt a more deliberate policy framework that supports industrial power development if the country hopes to achieve sustainable economic growth.
The event, themed “Strengthening Power Sector Governance for a Sustainable Future,” brought together key stakeholders from across Nigeria’s energy landscape to review the sector’s evolution over two decades of reform and regulation.
Dr. Oseni stressed that while the REA’s mini-grid projects have improved energy access in rural communities, they are not sufficient to drive industrialisation or economic prosperity.
“There must be a deliberate policy by the FGN to power our industry for economic prosperity. You can power access through Mini-Grids, but you can’t power your economy to prosperity.”
He emphasised the need for the government to channel part of the $2 billion REA fund toward end-to-end solutions that can strengthen electricity supply to Nigeria’s industrial clusters, stimulate productivity, and create jobs.
Reflecting on NERC’s journey over the past two decades, Oseni noted that the Commission had successfully overseen the privatisation and unbundling of the formerly state-owned monopoly, while developing key regulatory instruments to improve reliability, market governance, and consumer protection.
He said relative to 20 years ago, not less than 30 per cent of the electricity consumers have experienced significant improvement in their electricity services.
But through effective regulation, he said, the Commission has saved the Federal Government several trillion of naira in subsidies, thereby contributing to the improved fiscal position of the Federal Government.
Oseni, however, pointed out that Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure still requires substantial investment, noting that current fiscal realities make it impossible for the government alone to meet this funding need.
He therefore called for a robust regulatory framework to attract private capital into the sector, stressing that such measures would ensure long-term stability, efficiency, and sustainability of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
NERC was established in 2005 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of his government’s broader economic reform agenda. Created through the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005, the Commission was mandated to regulate electricity tariffs, ensure transparency in subsidy policies, promote efficient and environmentally sustainable energy practices, and develop as well as enforce standards for electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in Nigeria.
At the 20th Anniversary Celebration, past and present Ministers of Power, Senators, former NERC Chairmen and Commissioners, industry stakeholders, development partners, and staff of the Commission gathered to commemorate two decades of NERC’s contributions to Nigeria’s power sector transformation.