President Bola Tinubu has appointed Mr. Rilwan Lanre Babalola as his Special Adviser on Power, concurrently naming him Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The announcement was detailed in a State House press statement released by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga on Thursday.
In a strategic move to streamline energy governance, the President also redesignated the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy to Special Adviser on Oil & Gas.
This restructuring is designed to provide clearer administrative boundaries and eliminate functional overlaps within the sector.
Babalola, a former Minister of Power, is expected to leverage his extensive sectoral experience to tackle longstanding structural and operational challenges across Nigeria’s electricity value chain.
The Presidential Taskforce, which he will lead, will operate under a direct presidential mandate as a high-level,results-driven body focused on restoring efficiency, discipline, and commercial viability in the power sector.
The taskforce will implement wide-ranging reforms, including a comprehensive system reset, enforcement of a “performance before expansion” framework, and reduction of technical, commercial, and collection losses.
Other key priorities include improving revenue assurance, strengthening tariff integrity, restoring grid discipline, enhancing market coordination, and promoting the productive use of electricity across critical sectors of the economy.
The taskforce is also expected to develop Electricity Growth Zones, reduce fiscal exposure, and deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint to accelerate reforms.
Tinubu expressed confidence that Babalola will bring urgency, discipline, and strong execution to the role, in line with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, to achieve measurable improvements in power supply and overall sector performance.
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