End ‘Silo’ Approach To Fix Nigeria’s Gas-to-power Crisis, NUPRC Urges

The chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, has urged stakeholders across the gas, power and financial sectors to stop operating in silos and adopt coordinated, practical solutions to Nigeria’s persistent power and gas challenges.

Making the appeal on Thursday at the 2026 Gas-to-Power Sector Stakeholders’ Engagement at the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Abuja, themed “Power Sector Sustainability: Framework Implementation Assurance,” Eyesan said decades of policy discussions and repeated interventions have not translated into meaningful progress because of fragmented implementation and weak alignment among critical actors.

“For years we’ve had policy on policy and initiatives that look good on paper,” Eyesan said in her goodwill message.

“We segregated part of our budget for domestic gas. And it was mainly focused on power. We segregated for several years. The needle did not move. We’ve been working in silos.”

Eyesan traced the origins of Nigeria’s domestic gas supply framework to conversations that began in 2008 and crystallised in 2009 under the Domestic Gas (DomGas) initiative, a policy aimed at prioritising local gas supply for power generation and industrial use.

Despite those early commitments, she said a persistent disconnect between upstream producers, infrastructure developers and electricity distribution companies has consistently undermined delivery.

“The upstream working, infrastructure not moving along with upstream supply. And you have the power distribution companies, not even moving at all with anybody,” she said, pointing to mismatched timelines, regulatory bottlenecks and weak project coordination as recurring obstacles.

The NUPRC chief highlighted Nigeria’s large gas endowment — put at about 215 trillion cubic feet (TCF) — as a missed strategic advantage.

“Today, we shouldn’t be talking about meeting domestic needs. Today, what we should have been really describing is how to meet regional needs,” she said, arguing that the country’s resource base should place it among West Africa’s major energy suppliers rather than a market struggling to satisfy its own demand.

Institutional rigidity and policy “grandstanding” also came under scrutiny. Eyesan warned that excessive bureaucracy and narrow interpretations of government directives continue to stall practical solutions.

“If we continue to grandstand, we won’t make progress. The country will suffer, the continent will suffer,” she said, urging public and private sector actors to prioritise implementation and flexibility over posturing.

On the international front, Eyesan reflected on the impact of the global energy transition debate. She said Africa initially faced declining oil and gas investments as capital shifted toward renewables and cleaner technologies, but the recognition of gas as a transition fuel has helped restore investor interest in some markets.

She welcomed what she described as a “new direction being championed by the United States” that has supported increased production, while noting the importance of channeling such momentum into domestic infrastructure and market reforms.

Calling for practical collaboration and innovation, Eyesan urged stakeholders to develop creative, cross-cutting solutions that can be executed at scale.

“If we don’t break those barriers, and come up with creative solutions, we will not make progress. Ten years from now, we will still be saying the same things, and it will be a big shame,” she said.

Industry participants at the event included representatives from gas producers, transmission and distribution companies, financial institutions and development partners.

The engagement aimed to align sector players on implementing frameworks designed to stabilise power supply through reliable gas-to-power linkages, address funding gaps for midstream and downstream infrastructure, and streamline regulatory processes.