Economy
Dogara Tasks Stakeholders to Address Myriad Power Problems
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has charged stakeholders in the power sector in Nigeria to ensure they address the myriad of issues frustrating steady supply of electricity in the country.
The Speaker gave this charge on Tuesday during his welcome address at the 2-day stakeholders’ interactive dialogue/workshop on the Nigerian power sector by the National Assembly at the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.
Mr Dogara admitted that the power sector in Nigeria has over years been faced with many intimidating and daunting challenges.
He said these challenges run across the entire power value chain of generation, transmission and distribution and that these myriad issues are apparently exacerbated by inadequate funding, poor energy mix, fuel supply issues, flawed regulatory framework, commercial issues among others.
“There is therefore a need for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to address these myriad problems,” he charged.
According to him, the “objective of this workshop is to provide a platform for stakeholders to carry out a holistic diagnosis of the challenges impeding the development of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and proffer practical solutions.”
“The diagnosis includes but not limited to a critical analysis of the extant legislations and regulatory framework guiding the Nigerian power sector to determine if there is a need for amendments or enactment of new laws that will galvanize the sector to deliver the required results,” he said.
According to him, some of the relevant questions to be asked are:
- Why has power generation remained at less than 5000MW since the last 56 years?
- Why have various policies by successive governments failed?
- Why has the transmission infrastructure remained inadequate in wheeling the available power?
- How can the Federal Government rapidly expand the transmission infrastructure?
- Why are electric meters not available to most consumers thereby leading to contentious estimated billing?
- How can NERC establish a cost reflective tariff and reduce inefficiency in support of affordable end user tariffs?
- Why has there not been an effective Gas Master Plan for Nigeria which would have preceded the building of the gas fired power plants?
- What is the solution to the perennial pipeline vandalism that disrupts delivery of gas to the gas fired power plants?
- What can be done to improve local and foreign investment in gas gathering, processing and distribution?
- Why is there local and foreign investor apathy in investing in the Nigerian power sector?
- Why are the local and foreign financial institutions not funding the sector?
- How can the FGN create and sustain a stable investment climate for private sector participation in the power sector?
- How can the FGN maintain a creditworthy off-taker (NBET) of electricity?
- How can we maximize options like mini hydro and small solar projects to power rural communities?
. Perhaps the most important question is what happened to the N2.74 trillion spent on the sector from 1999-2015?
. Why is it that the more we spent on the power sector, the more darkness we attract?
- Why are most of the companies licensed by NERC not able to start their projects?
- What can be done to improve the poor energy mix?
- Why has the FGN not embarked on Energy Conservation campaign that will emphasize the use of energy saving bulbs etc.?
- What kind of guarantee is needed by foreign investors to facilitate investment in the power sector?
- What role can the legislature play to facilitate a rapid development of the power sector?
- Is there a political will to tackle head on the challenges of the power sector?
- Is there any need for amendment of extant legislations or enactment of new laws to galvanize both local and foreign investment in the Nigerian power sector?
The Speaker said stakeholders and participants at the programme must answer in order to proffer long lasting solutions that will move the Nigerian power sector forward, stressing that he remains “confident that the array of stakeholders gathered here today are eminently capable of dealing with these and many more related questions and puzzles that exist and will arise in the course of deliberations.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
