Aniefiok Christopher
Nigerian Government has decentralised electricity regulation and given states powers over generation, transmission, and distribution previously held by the Federal agency.
This follows the signing of Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill 2025 into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday, February 2, marking a historic shift from Federal to states in Nigeria’s power sector governance.
The new law removes electricity from the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution to the Concurrent Legislative List, legally empowering states to generate, transmit, distribute, and regulate electricity within their respective jurisdictions without exclusive reliance on federal agencies.
Under the amended Act, states are now empowered to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity within their territories, establish state electricity markets and regulators, and license private investors to operate power plants and mini-grids without federal approval.
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The policy shift is a bold step towards true federalism to unlock private sector investment, encourage innovation, and accelerate electricity access across the country. States are now positioned to develop independent power projects tailored to their local energy needs, including renewable and off-grid solutions.
“This law marks a new era in Nigeria’s energy sector,” President Tinubu said while assenting to the bill. “States now have the constitutional authority to provide stable and efficient electricity to their residents, fostering industrialisation and job creation.”
The reform is expected to improve power supply and support faster industrial growth, especially in states willing to move quickly beyond politics to implement viable electricity markets and infrastructure. However, the success of the new framework will depend largely on the capacity, political will, and regulatory readiness of individual state governments to translate the law into tangible results.
Recall that the Electricity Act 2023 was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on 8th June, 2023.
The Act follows the 5th Alteration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which expressly provided full constitutional rights to State Houses of Assembly to make laws for electricity generation, transmission and distribution within their state territories.
By virtue of the 5th alteration of the constitution, the regulation of all aspects of distribution and sale of electricity within a State is an exclusive (not residual) right of State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs).
Less than two years of its passage, a bill to amend the Electricity Act has passed second reading on the floor of the Senate.
The Electricity Act Amendment Bill 2025 was sponsored by Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Power. Sen. Abaribe was a Senator in the 9th National Assembly that passed both the Constitutional Amendments and the Electricity Act 2023.
Based on the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, several areas of potential conflict and jurisdictional overlap exist between the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the newly empowered State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs).
