October 31, 2025
The Federal Government have been urged to rethink its policy on the utilization of the $2 billion available to the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, and use a significant portion of the fund to address the persistent power supply challenges facing Nigeria’s industrial hubs.
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, made the suggestion at the NERC 20th Anniversary Celebration held in Abuja.
NERC’s Vice Chairman, Dr. Musiliu Oseni, who made the call, said if the country hopes to achieve sustainable economic growth, government must adopt a more pragmatic policy framework that supports industrial power development.
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.
READ MORE; NERC Introduces Stiffer Penalties For Energy Theft
Oseni stated 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 urged 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.
READ MORE; Electricity Consumers Lament Over Tariff Hike Amidst Epileptic Supply
Reflecting on NERC’s journey over the past two decades, especially in the areas of unbundling monopolies, 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.
Established in 2005 under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of his government’s broader economic reform agenda, NERC was created through the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005, with the 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.
