NERC, state electricity regulators inaugurate Forum to promote sustainable electricity market 

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has inaugurated a new forum of Nigerian Electricity Regulators, aimed at promoting a sustainable electricity market as well as enhancing coordination and effectiveness in electricity regulation across Nigeria.

Speaking while inaugurating the Forum on Wednesday, Musiliu Oseni, NERC Chairman explained that the Forum is established to ensure effective collaboration between federal and state electricity regulators and ensure consistent regulatory frameworks, safeguard consumer interests, promote investment, and strengthen the technical and institutional capacity of electricity regulators in Nigeria.

Noting that electricity is the oxygen for economic growth and prosperity, Oseni said that Nigeria’s power industry is fraught with varying challenges that require effective coordination and synergy among the captains of the industry.

He said, “As regulators, we are often regarded as arbiter of the industry, but our mandate goes deeper—we are drivers of innovation, investment and economic growth, guardians of consumer protection and protector of overriding public interests.”

He explained that following several deliberations with stakeholders pursuant to the provisions of the Electricity Act (“EA”) 2023, a Technical Working Group (“TWG”) was constituted on the 26th September 2025, comprising representatives from NERC and SERCs, with the mandate to design an institutional framework to enable coordination, coherence and regulatory alignment across jurisdictions.

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“The TWG convened its inaugural meeting on the 11th November 2025 and established a Technical Committee to develop a draft Charter. The Draft Charter was presented at the Q4 2025 Regulatory Meeting held on the 1st December 2025, and subsequently circulated for comments. Submissions from the State Regulators were rigorously reviewed and integrated to ensure consensus, inclusivity and operational clarity.

“A validation workshop was convened on the 24th February 2026, culminating in the finalisation of the Charter on the 2nd of March 2026. Let me, on behalf of the Commission, seize this opportunity to commend the members of the TWG and other stakeholders who have worked tirelessly to ensure that this journey become a success. Without you, we won’t be here today!

“With the signing of the Charter today, the Forum now transitions from concept to institution. The objectives of the Forum are clear. We intend to advance coordinated and coherent electricity regulation across Nigeria by facilitating dialogue between NERC and SERCs on regulatory issues.”

Other objectives of the Forum according to Oseni includes to promote harmonised regulatory approaches in tariff setting, market operations, and consumer protection, support professional development through joint capacity-building and peer learning and serve as a consultative platform for electricity market reforms and sector alignment.

For him, inaugurating the Forum means embracing the obligation to shape the industry for prosperity through coordinated regulatory actions.

He emphasised that the Forum must create an environment where regulatory ideas are incubated, transparency is dominant, investments and customer protection are prioritised, and disputes are resolved through constructive dialogue rather than protracted litigation.

“This Forum is not a ship without a rudder. It is a commitment to action. The challenge facing our industry is often reduced to a specific segment of the value chain: generation, transmission or distribution problem.

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“However, this reductionism is misleading – the key issue is: we have an electricity market problem! The main question is not how much power can we generate? Rather, the key question is: how can our market operate sustainably?

“Addressing this key question is critical to addressing the challenges facing our industry, and is key to our shared responsibility of driving economic prosperity. We must work collaboratively to avoid regulatory arbitrage by the operators. I charge all of us to carry out this mandate with the highest sense of responsibility,” he added.

With the Electricity Act (EA) 2023, state governments as well as individuals are empowered to actively participate in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. The EA also mandates any state that intends to establish and regulate intrastate electricity markets to deliver a formal notification of its processes and requests NERC to transfer regulatory authority over electricity operations in the state to the State Regulator.

While the Forum is made up of both the NERC and the states electricity regulators, BusinessDay’s check showed that only 14 states: Enugu, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Bayelsa, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Niger, Plateau, Kogi, Edo have so far gotten an active regulatory body for their electricity market.