Concerned individuals in Nigeria’s power sector have raised fresh concerns over the growing leadership vacuum at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, warning against allowing political considerations to influence upcoming appointments, DARE OLAWIN reports.
STAKEHOLDERS in the power sector have called on President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the appointment of new leaders into vacant offices in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission is not politically motivated.
With key positions vacant and more set to expire, industry experts have expressed fears that the power sector could face deeper instability if competence is sacrificed for politics.
The call stemmed from the current vacuums in the commission, starting from the position of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NERC.
It could be recalled that the immediate past chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, who assumed office in December 2020 for a five-year tenure, was relieved of his position in August as President Bola Tinubu nominated a former Chairman of the Ungogo Local Government Area in Kano State, Abdullahi Ramat, as his replacement.
In October, Tinubu wrote to the Nigerian Senate, seeking the confirmation of Ramat’s appointment as the NERC chairman. However, the Senate has yet to confirm Ramat’s appointment as of the time of this report, generating various reactions from Ramat’s supporters in Kano.
At the moment, Garba’s vice chairman, Musiliu Oseni, is the Acting Chairman pending when a substantive chairman assumes office. However, our correspondent reports that Oseni’s tenure also expires in December, creating concerns about a leadership vacuum within the commission.
Speaking with our correspondent, the convener of PowerUp, Adetayo Adegbemle, advised the Federal Government to handle the power sector with the seriousness it deserves. According to him, the country needs regulators who are capable of building on successes and lessons learnt in the sector.
Adegbemle warned that this is not the time to experiment or make political appointments, saying the sector needs experienced individuals who understand the challenges facing the sector.
“The government needs to take the power sector as seriously as they have taken the tax reform. We need strong regulators that can build on the successes and lessons learnt so far.
“This is not the time to experiment or make political appointments. We need people with track records of interventions; we need people with an understanding of the challenges of the sector. That’s what I would expect the government to focus on,” he stated.
Adegbemle worried over the leadership vacuum in the commission, wondering why the Senate Committee on Power has yet to make known its reports on whether or not Ramat would be confirmed as the NERC chairman since October 14.
The uncertainty, he argued, does not bode well for the power sector.
“We have not heard anything about whether the nominee will be given the nod or not. Several nominations have gone to the Senate and have been granted since the name of the NERC chairman nominee was sent. This uncertainty does not bode well for the health of the power sector.
The FG is not helping; we cannot have uncertain leadership at the ministry, and now add another uncertainty at the regulatory level. This is not good for the power sector,” he said.
There are concerns that the system has been grappling with years of weak leadership and politically motivated appointments.
Stakeholders stated that appointments into the leadership of NERC tilted more towards politics than technical experience and capacity.
Experts argued that appointing political figures to head a body as technical as NERC does not augur well for the sector, stressing that staff of the commission with years of experience would do better with their technical know-how.
A Professor of Energy at the University of Lagos, Dayo Ayoade, told our correspondent that the government has repeatedly appointed leaders based on politics. Ayoade noted that NERC is critical to the power sector as the regulator, as nothing could be done in the electricity sector without NERC, especially when the sector has significant problems.
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He argued that NERC has not really been successful due to its leaders, calling on the government not to put politics above the interests of the sector.
“The problem about appointments and the ability of the government to require that appointees do their jobs is always there. Sadly, NERC has not been successful; I won’t say they are solely to blame.
The power sector is not in a good state, and people have been in office for a long time, with some people’s appointments even renewed. The stalling of the chairman nominee is a matter of national importance, and the National Assembly should wrap up whatever it is doing regarding the review of the appointment of the nominee.
“It won’t be good that we always politicise everything. We need to call the Senate President to find out what is going on. The government should show interest in wrapping up the approval, and if they don’t want this particular chairman, they should give their reasons, and another person should be appointed. If I were the government, there would be another person standing by in case there’s an issue with the current nominee,” Ayoade noted.
The don maintained that the NERC vice chairman is running out of time, saying, “It is not good that we have this kind of stagnation in the sector.”
He concluded, “I suggest that the government look for stronger people and not politically influential candidates. Most of the people we appoint are politically influential. It’s all about politics. I don’t want to criticise the new nominee; I don’t know if he’s the best candidate for the job.”
A stakeholder, who did not want to be named, maintained that though there is no end to learning, this is not the right time for NESI to have what he called ‘a student regulator’. He spoke further that the NERC CEO ought to come from the power sector.
“While the conventional wisdom is that sourcing the head of a sector from outside the sector helps to bring a fresh idea into the place, it is not an immutable point. The argument that a fresh hand is required to bring in fresh ideas and progress is neither here nor there, and you don’t want to gamble with the power sector. I’d even prefer that you bring a member of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria with expertise in management sciences rather than a politician with a local government frame of mind, because the MAN person has been interfacing with NERC and understands the tough terrain of tariff, subsidy, and associated issues.
“It is difficult to see how this appointment will move the power sector forward. Since its establishment, NERC has had as CEO the likes of Dr Ransome Owan (pioneer), Dr Sam Amadi, Dr Anthony Akah, Prof James Momoh, and Engr. Sanusi Garba, who is the only person who had worked in the power sector before he came into NERC and ended up as the CEO. Now we have Dr Abdullahi Garba Ramat, a former local government chairman,” the stakeholder emphasised, calling on the government to ensure professionals are appointed to manage the power sector.
He added that NERC’s appointees are usually individuals with little or no sectoral grounding, making them rely heavily on senior management staff for technical understanding of the sector.
It was learnt that from December, Oseni and some commissioners would vacate their seats due to the expiration of their tenures, sparking fears of a leadership crisis in NERC. Some commissioners will also go in February 2026.
Ayoade said the president has to act fast to avert this by appointing capable hands to fill all vacuums with a new set of substantive commissioners.
Recall that there were recently allegations from some loyalists of Ramat that the Senate was paid $10m to stop the nominee’s confirmation. Members of a Kano-based civil advocacy group, Grassroots Initiative Concept, also staged a protest at the National Assembly, urging the Senate to urgently confirm Ramat’s appointment.
However, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, described the $10m allegation as baseless.
According to media reports, Adaramodu explained that the Senate decided to suspend Ramat’s screening and confirmation due to “a barrage of public and private complaints” raised against his nomination.
“The Senate is statutorily bound to pause consideration of any nominee facing serious public petitions or controversies. Many nominees in the past have stepped down for similar reasons. Mr Ramat’s case is no exception,” he said.
With the clock ticking toward multiple leadership expirations, the future of NERC hangs in the balance. Stakeholders warn that allowing politics to overshadow competence at such a critical moment could further destabilise an already fragile power sector. As the nation awaits clarity from both the presidency and the senate, the consensus remains clear: only transparent, merit-driven appointments can restore confidence and provide the regulatory stability needed to steer Nigeria’s electricity industry toward meaningful reform.
