President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Rilwan Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser on Power and Chairman of a newly established Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The appointment, announced in a State House press release on Thursday, signals a renewed push by the administration to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
Babalola, a former Minister of Power, is expected to lead efforts to implement wide-ranging reforms aimed at improving efficiency, accountability, and overall sector performance. His role will involve coordinating key stakeholders across ministries, departments, and agencies under a direct presidential mandate.
As part of the restructuring, the presidency also redesignated the Office of the Special Adviser (Energy) to Special Adviser (Oil & Gas), a move aimed at clarifying responsibilities and reducing overlap within the energy governance framework.
According to the statement, the newly created task force will focus on restoring discipline and commercial viability in the power sector.
“The Presidential Taskforce will operate under a direct presidential mandate as a high-level, delivery-focused vehicle to restore discipline, efficiency, and commercial viability across the power sector,” the statement said.
Its mandate includes reducing technical and commercial losses, improving revenue generation, enforcing cost discipline, and strengthening tariff structures.
“The Taskforce’s mandate includes driving a comprehensive system reset of the electricity sector and implementing a ‘Performance Before Expansion’ framework,” the presidency stated.
The task force is also expected to promote increased electricity use in productive sectors, develop Electricity Growth Zones, and reduce the government’s fiscal exposure to the sector.
A key deliverable for the team will be a 90-day implementation blueprint outlining immediate and medium-term interventions to stabilise the power supply system.
“The President expects Mr Babalola to bring urgency, discipline, and a strong execution focus to this assignment… to deliver measurable improvements in power supply and sector performance,” the statement added.
The presidency said the appointment reflects Tinubu’s commitment to a “results-driven reset” of the power sector in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda.