Tinubu Proposes Grid Asset Company To Fix Power Sector

President Bola Tinubu has proposed the establishment of a Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO) as part of renewed efforts to address persistent structural weaknesses in Nigeria’s power sector, particularly within the country’s electricity transmission network.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the State House, Abuja, following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the President.

Idris said the proposal was contained in a memorandum presented to the Council by President Tinubu for deliberation. He noted that the initiative is aimed at strengthening the transmission component of Nigeria’s electricity value chain, widely regarded by the government as the most critical bottleneck to achieving stable power supply.

According to the minister, Nigeria’s power sector was unbundled into three core segments—generation, transmission and distribution—following deregulation. However, he observed that transmission has remained the weakest link in the system.

He explained that the proposed Grid Asset Management Company would be responsible for managing and strengthening the national electricity grid to improve power delivery nationwide.

To advance the plan, the Federal Executive Council approved the constitution of an inter-ministerial committee to design the operational framework for the proposed company.

Members of the committee include the Minister of Power; the Minister of State for Gas; the Minister of Works; the Minister of Finance; the Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service; the Minister of Science and Technology; and the Attorney-General of the Federation. The committee may also co-opt other stakeholders where necessary.

Idris said the panel would examine regulatory, legal and investment-related issues connected to the establishment of the new entity, including the interests of existing investors and operators in the power sector.

“All the enabling parameters will be looked at, the laws will be examined, and those who are practising in that sector and those who have invested in that sector will also have their level of investment considered,” the minister said.

He added that the proposal remains a work in progress and that the committee’s recommendations would, where necessary, be transmitted to the National Assembly for legislative consideration.

The minister noted that the initiative forms part of the administration’s broader economic reform agenda aimed at accelerating industrialisation.

According to him, the government believes that resolving power sector challenges is fundamental to sustaining economic growth, boosting productivity and supporting industrial development.

“The President feels that for us to actually industrialise, the power sector must be fixed, and that is why he has taken this initiative of looking at how this Grid Asset Management Company will be set up to help solve the problem of power in this country,” Idris said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Executive Council also approved the implementation of an additional exit benefit scheme for retiring civil servants in treasury-funded ministries, departments and agencies operating under the contributory pension scheme.

Idris explained that the scheme would provide retiring employees with benefits of up to 100 per cent of their total emoluments in line with Section 4(4)(a) of the Pension Reform Act. He said the measure is intended to improve efficiency and morale within the civil service by strengthening the welfare framework for public servants approaching retirement.

Nigeria’s power sector continues to face significant transmission challenges despite recent reforms, including the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) into the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and the Transmission Service Provider (TSP).

Established under the Electricity Act 2023 and operational since mid-2024, NISO oversees real-time grid operations, market administration and system planning, while TSP handles asset maintenance. The restructuring was designed to enhance transparency, efficiency and investor confidence in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

NISO manages grid control, generation dispatch, commercial settlements and SCADA/EMS systems, enforces grid codes and undertakes long-term planning. However, transmission remains a bottleneck amid ageing infrastructure, vandalism, mounting debts and recurring grid collapses.

With an installed capacity of 13,625 megawatts compared to actual output of between 4,000 and 5,000 megawatts, and plant availability hovering at about 36 per cent, the grid continues to underperform. Losses of over eight per cent, manual operations in some segments and multiple collapses recorded between 2025 and 2026 have further exposed systemic weaknesses.

Although NISO has improved wheeling capacity to about 8,700 megawatts, it is constrained by inherited liabilities, including TCN’s reported N457 billion debt and the loss of 131 transmission towers to vandalism, even as national demand is estimated at 30,000 megawatts.

Against this backdrop, the proposed GAMCO is expected to complement NISO’s operational mandate by professionalising grid asset management, mobilising investment and strengthening the resilience of Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure.