President Bola Tinubu has reshuffled Nigeria’s electricity leadership, nominating Joseph Tegbe as Minister of Power and appointing Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser on Power and chairman of a newly created Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The announcements were made in separate statements by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, as the administration moves to tackle ongoing grid failures and widespread blackouts.
Tegbe’s nomination follows the resignation of former minister Adebayo Adelabu, who stepped down to pursue political ambitions in Oyo State. Pending Senate confirmation, Tegbe is expected to leverage his background in fiscal reform, governance restructuring and institutional advisory to stabilise the power sector.
He previously held senior advisory roles at KPMG Africa and currently serves as Director-General and Global Liaison for the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership. The presidency highlighted his past work with sector institutions including the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company on regulatory and structural reforms.
At the same time, Tinubu constituted a presidential task force to drive urgent reforms across the electricity value chain. Babalola, who once served as power minister, will lead the team with a direct mandate from the President to reset market operations and improve sector performance.
The task force is expected to enforce stronger tariff discipline, reduce technical and commercial losses, improve revenue collection, and introduce electricity growth zones to stimulate industrial demand. It is also required to submit a 90-day implementation blueprint outlining immediate reform steps.
In a related adjustment, the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy, currently held by Olu Verheijen, has been redesignated as Special Adviser on Oil and Gas to clarify responsibilities within the energy governance structure.
According to the presidency, the changes are aimed at delivering measurable improvements in electricity supply and restoring efficiency across Nigeria’s power sector.
