President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed Mr. Rilwan Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration, in a move aimed at revitalizing Nigeria’s struggling electricity sector.
The appointment was disclosed on Thursday in a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Babalola, a former Minister of Power, is expected to leverage his extensive experience and deep understanding of the electricity value chain to address longstanding structural and operational challenges within the sector.
As part of a broader restructuring initiative, the Presidency also announced the redesignation of the Office of the Special Adviser (Energy) to Special Adviser (Oil & Gas). The adjustment is intended to streamline responsibilities and eliminate overlaps within the government’s energy governance framework.
According to the statement, the newly established task force will operate under a direct presidential mandate, serving as a delivery-driven mechanism to restore efficiency, discipline, and commercial viability in the power sector. It will also coordinate activities across relevant ministries, departments, and agencies.
The task force has been charged with implementing a comprehensive reset of the electricity system, anchored on a “Performance Before Expansion” framework. Its key priorities include reducing technical, commercial, and collection losses, strengthening cost discipline, and ensuring tariff integrity.
Other mandates include improving revenue assurance and sector liquidity, restoring grid discipline and market stability, promoting productive electricity use across key sectors, and developing electricity growth zones. The initiative is also expected to ease fiscal pressures on the government.
The team is required to deliver a 90-day implementation plan, with President Tinubu emphasizing the need for urgency, discipline, and results-driven execution in line with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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