It wasn’t announced with fanfare. There was no grand ceremony, no sweeping presidential speech. But with a stroke of a pen, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu may have just switched on the fuse for Nigeria’s most profound structural shift in decades.
The signing of the Electricity Act, an arcane piece of legislation to the casual observer, is a thunderclap in the stagnant air of Nigeria’s power sector. It does something deceptively simple yet revolutionary: it formally removes electricity from the Exclusive Legislative List. In plain terms, Abuja no longer holds the only switch.
For the first time since the creation of the national grid, States are no longer mere spectators in the darkness, waiting on a central authority that has consistently failed to deliver. The new law hands them the tools to build their own light.
The New Powers: Beyond Generators
The Act is a legislative toolkit for self-reliance. States now have the constitutional authority to:
· Generate their own electricity – harnessing solar, hydro, gas, or wind within their territories.
· Transmit and distribute it – building or taking over the infrastructure to get power to people.
· Establish state electricity markets and regulatory bodies – setting tariffs, standards, and rules.
· License private investors directly, bypassing the legendary bureaucratic bottlenecks of the Federal Government.
This is not just about incremental change; it’s about systemic devolution. It transforms states from supplicants into architects of their own energy destiny.
Why This Is The Big Deal: Decentralisation Meets Reality
For decades, Nigeria’s power crisis has been a monolithic problem with a monolithic, failing solution. A one-size-fits-all grid, plagued by inefficiency, debt, and underinvestment, left a nation of 200 million people in the dark. Industries bled billions on diesel, SMEs staggered, and households lived by the erratic rhythm of generators.
“This law unlocks true federalism in a sector where it matters most: economic survival,” says Dr. Ngozi Okeke, an energy policy analyst. “A state like Lagos, with its immense commercial needs, no longer has the same power constraints or solutions as a predominantly agricultural state like Benue. Now, they can tailor the cure to the disease.”
The potential is staggering. A state with a vision can:
· Move at its own pace, unshackled from the slow-grinding wheels of national bureaucracy.
· Design bespoke energy mixes – solar belts in the North, mini-hydros in the South, gas-powered plants in the Niger Delta.
· Attract investment with clearer, faster approvals, creating local jobs and industries built on reliable power.
· Directly power critical infrastructure, hospitals, schools, streetlights, transforming public service and security.
The Brutal New Question for Governors
However, this seismic shift comes with a stark warning: Policy is no longer the problem. Execution is.
The Act hands every governor a stark, binary choice. As one senior aide in the Presidency put it privately, “They can no longer blame Abuja. The spotlight is now squarely on them.”
· Will you govern, or just grandstand?
· Will you build competent state regulatory commissions, or staff them with political cronies?
· Will you attract serious technical partners, or peddle patronage?
The real test begins now. States that plan, partner transparently with credible investors, and execute pragmatically will begin to light up. They will see factories hum, new businesses bloom, and nightlife return to their streets.
States that politicize the process, see it as a new avenue for rent-seeking, or are paralyzed by indecision will condemn their citizens to remain in the dark, with no one left to blame.
A Moment History Will Judge
This is one of those rare inflection points. The law itself will be a footnote. What history will remember—and what voters will experience—is who used it.
Will we see a “Lights-On Coalition” of states that become beacons of investment and growth? Will regional power pools emerge, creating mini-grids of stability? Or will this opportunity fade into the familiar tale of wasted potential?
The signing was quiet. The implications are deafening. The centralised monopoly on power is over. A new, competitive, and potentially transformative era of electricity federalism has begun. It’s a big shift. But it presents a bigger opportunity. And for millions of Nigerians living in the dark, the wait for results starts today.
The switch has been flipped. Now, we see which governors can wire the future.
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