By Akinwale Kasali
The move by the Senate to restore powers already devolved to States under the Constitution and the Electricity Act 2023 has been rejected by Lagos State, alongside 15 other States.
The States’ Electricity Regulators in a memorandum submitted to the Senate Committee on Power, the National Electricity Regulatory Commissions, NERC, and Bureaus warned that the proposed Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 could reverse one of the most significant reforms in Nigeria’s power sector.
Signatories to the document included the Chairmen and Chief Executives of Regulators in Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Plateau states.
The Regulators argued that the amendment bill seeks to restore extensive federal oversight over matters they insist have constitutionally become the responsibility of states.
The regulators said they had taken advantage of the Electricity Act 2023 to begin building sub-national markets and had already engaged investors based on the framework created by the law.
They noted that they had earlier met with the Senate committee and were subsequently requested to consolidate their concerns into a single memorandum for the consideration of lawmakers, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and other stakeholders.
The State regulators said they had identified 17 contentious provisions in the proposed amendments to the Act that they believed could undermine the constitutional powers already granted to states in the electricity sector.
According to the regulators, the areas of disagreement include the authorisation of State Houses of Assembly to legislate on electricity matters, the supremacy of state laws within state markets, and provisions seeking to retain federal control over all activities connected to the national grid.
Other disputed clauses relate to restrictions on states’ participation in the wholesale energy market, the authority of states over independent transmission and distribution networks, and the establishment and administration of the Power Consumers Assistance Fund.
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