Power sector regulatory conflicts could undermine Nigeria’s electricity reforms, Professor Yemi Oke warns, calling for clearer federal and state roles

Professor Yemi Oke, SAN, Professor of Energy and Electricity Law at the University of Lagos, has warned that power sector regulatory conflicts and overlapping institutional responsibilities could undermine Nigeria’s ongoing electricity reforms unless federal and state authorities establish clearer boundaries.

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Oke raised the concern at the Magodo Associates Policy Dialogue Session on Sunday, where he examined the implications of the Electricity Act 2023 and the growing participation of states and private investors in Nigeria’s electricity market.

The professor said the legislation represented a significant shift from Nigeria’s traditionally centralised electricity structure by enabling states to play a larger role in generation, transmission and distribution within their territories.

The reform has already produced a substantial change in the regulatory landscape.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said in May 2026 that 15 states had transitioned to regulating their own electricity markets under the Electricity Act 2023.

The states listed by NERC are Enugu, Ekiti, Ondo, Imo, Oyo, Edo, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Niger, Plateau, Abia, Nasarawa, Anambra and Bayelsa. The transitions have taken place progressively since October 2024.

Oke, however, said the decentralisation process could create difficult regulatory questions where federal and state responsibilities intersect.

He cited the relationship between NERC and the Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission as an example of the need for careful coordination, arguing that areas of jurisdiction must be sufficiently clear to prevent uncertainty for operators and investors.

The transition in Imo illustrates how the new framework is intended to work.

NERC issued an order transferring regulatory oversight of the state’s intrastate electricity market to the Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission, with the transfer taking effect on 1 July 2024 following the required process.

NERC’s current explanation of the framework states that state regulators oversee intrastate generation, distribution, supply and trading, while NERC retains responsibility for interstate and international electricity activities, national-grid matters and states that have not assumed regulatory authority.

That division of responsibilities is at the heart of the challenge identified by Oke.

He warned that overlapping functions involving NERC, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency and the Rural Electrification Agency could create uncertainty if their respective mandates are not effectively coordinated.

The concern is particularly relevant as electricity markets become more decentralised and new participants enter the sector.

Regulatory uncertainty can affect decisions by investors, operators and consumers, particularly where licensing, technical standards, grid access or market oversight involve more than one institution.

NERC itself describes the Electricity Act 2023 as a framework designed to strengthen accountability, market transparency, system reliability and coordination among institutions.

Its published guidance sets out separate responsibilities for federal regulation, electrical safety, rural and off-grid electrification and state-level market oversight.

The reform therefore does not simply transfer electricity responsibilities from Abuja to the states. It creates a more complex institutional architecture in which federal and subnational authorities must operate alongside one another.

For Oke, the effectiveness of that architecture will depend on whether the boundaries are sufficiently clear to avoid competing claims of authority.

The broader discussion at the Magodo Associates session also placed the power sector debate within the association’s wider interest in national development.

Surv. ‘Remi Aromiwura, FN/S, Chairman of Magodo Associates, said the association’s quarterly policy sessions were intended to contribute to national discourse and generate ideas capable of supporting a more just and equitable society.

Aromiwura commended the ThinkTank Committee for organising the September session and said the association would continue using its platforms to examine issues of national importance.

He recalled that the association’s 14 June 2026 meeting focused on corruption and featured Professor Babafemi Badejo, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee.

That earlier seminar examined corruption as a wider institutional and moral challenge rather than solely a question of law enforcement.

Aromiwura said Magodo Associates would assess the reach and impact of its activities at its December Annual General Meeting, with the aim of strengthening its interventions and establishing a consistent direction for future policy discussions.

The latest electricity debate comes at a consequential stage of Nigeria’s power-sector reforms.

The Electricity Act 2023 replaced the previous centralised framework and opened the way for states to establish their own electricity markets.

NERC has described the transition as part of a broader effort to promote competition, investment and improved electricity service delivery.

The emerging challenge is therefore less about whether decentralisation should occur and more about how the different institutions can make the new structure work predictably.

For consumers, the significance is practical. Clear regulatory responsibilities can determine where customers take complaints, who approves tariffs, which authority issues licences and which institution is responsible when electricity infrastructure or service crosses state boundaries.

For investors, clarity can be equally important. A predictable regulatory environment can reduce uncertainty over approvals, compliance obligations and market participation.

Oke’s warning consequently places institutional coordination alongside generation capacity, transmission infrastructure and distribution performance as an important part of Nigeria’s electricity reform agenda.

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As more states assume responsibility for their electricity markets, the success of the reform will depend not only on the powers granted by the law but also on how effectively the institutions created by the law work together.