?Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on state governments to fully embrace the opportunities provided by the Electricity Act 2023 by establishing functional state-level electricity markets, attracting private capital, and taking direct ownership of their local power needs.
?Speaking through the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, at the National Stakeholders' Workshop on the Electricity Act 2023 held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, the Vice President emphasized that Nigeria’s industrial growth hinges on transforming energy reforms into reliable power for businesses and households.
He urged states to shed the habit of looking to the Federal Government for every answer, highlighting how regions can leverage their specific natural advantages such as solar potential in Northern states, gas reserves in the Niger Delta, and hydro resources in Niger and Kebbi to power economic development.
?To accelerate the transition, Senator Shettima proposed a National Electricity Reform Peer Review and Implementation Framework involving the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Federal Ministry of Power, the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), and state regulators.
This voluntary framework would enable states to share regulatory best practices, assess investment readiness, and avoid repeating implementation pitfalls.
He stressed that government treasuries alone cannot fund the required energy transformation, urging states to build transparent, predictable regulatory environments to win private sector confidence while enforcing strong consumer protections against arbitrary billing.
?The workshop also highlighted key milestones in the implementation of the Act. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman, emphasized that state-level planning remains critical for commercially viable power markets.
Additionally, NERC Deputy General Manager of Compliance, Hauwa Yakubu, revealed that the commission has already transferred regulatory authority to 17 states, with Akwa Ibom being the latest, as part of the broader shift toward decentralized, multilevel electricity governance across Nigeria.
