“One Grid, One Goal”: Minister Warns Against Regulatory Wars As Nigeria Begins Biggest Power Devolution in 60 Years

The Nigerian Government on Tuesday fired a strong warning to players in the power sector: avoid turf wars, or risk derailing Nigeria’s most ambitious electricity reform in decades.

NOP NIGERIA reports that the Minister of Power, Chief Joseph Tegbe, gave the charge at a high-level workshop on Legal, Policy and Regulatory Harmonisation between Federal and State Institutions, held in Abuja on July 14, 2026.

Speaking through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, the minister said the Electricity Act, 2023 did not create “parallel electricity industries” but rather “complementary electricity markets operating within one national framework.”

“None of these institutions exists in isolation. Our success is interconnected,” Chief Tegbe told stakeholders. “This is why collaboration must become the defining principle of our decentralised electricity market.”

Under the new decentralised structure, the minister outlined the new balance of power: The Federal Government retains strategic leadership, State Governments now have expanded responsibilities, NERC continues to regulate its jurisdiction, and State regulators are emerging to supervise their own markets.

He stressed that critical infrastructure must remain unified. “Transmission remains a national asset,” he said, while noting that Distribution companies will continue to serve millions of customers and Generation companies will keep supplying energy into the national grid.

The minister also listed private investors and development partners as vital to the transition. “Private investors provide capital. Development partners provide technical support. But consumers remain at the heart of every decision,” he stated.

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Chief Tegbe said the biggest threat to the reform is not funding, but fragmentation. “We must ensure collaboration rather than competition between institutions. We must build alignment instead of regulatory conflict. We must practice mutual respect instead of jurisdictional rivalry.”

The workshop was convened to harmonise laws and policies as more states move to take over regulation of electricity within their territories, following powers granted under the Electricity Act.

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The minister warned that investors and citizens will pay the price for confusion. “Investors should not encounter conflicting rules. Developers should not navigate contradictory approval processes. Consumers should not become casualties of institutional uncertainty.”

His core objective, he said, is “regulatory coherence.” According to him, market participants must enjoy “clarity, predictability and confidence wherever they choose to invest.”

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Energy analysts say the call comes at a critical time, with at least 8 states already drafting their own electricity laws and setting up state regulatory commissions.

NERC, in the press statement issued on July 16, 2026, said the harmonisation workshop was necessary to prevent duplication and legal clashes that could stall new investments.

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Stakeholders at the event included representatives from federal agencies, state governments, DisCos, GenCos, and development partners, all tasked with aligning their rules under one national grid.

As Nigeria pushes to decentralise power, Chief Tegbe’s message was clear: the reform will only work if Abuja and the states choose alignment over rivalry. “One grid, one goal,” he concluded.

NOP NIGERIA