General
Nigeria to Develop Integrated Electricity Policy, Implementation Plan
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria will develop a new integrated national electricity policy and strategic implementation plan, as mandated by the Electricity Act 2023, according to the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu.
President Bola Tinubu had on June 9 assented to the Electricity Bill, now an Act empowering states, companies and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity.
This, in turn, repealed the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSR A), 2005 and create a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to guide the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Mr Adelabu, while speaking on Monday at the Nigeria Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) roundtable for legislature, judiciary and other stakeholders said the ministry of power is working assiduously with the National Council on Power to send the policy to Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.
The round table was on the Enforcement of Technical Standards and Regulations in the NESI and Allied Industries.
The minister said that Electricity Act had consolidated virtually all legislation in the NESI and strengthened the role of NEMSA as the lead enforcer of all statutory technical and regulatory standards.
This is to guarantee the safety of lives and property, with complementary roles assigned to other sister agencies under their acts.
The minister said that the round table was timely, and the theme was well-informed.
“It’s an opportunity for us to compare notes on the reforms recently brought about in NESI by the Fifth Alteration to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the re-enactment of the Electricity Act, 2023.
“It is time to take stock of where we are and where we are going. As you are all aware, it’s one of the major fallouts of the amendment to the Fifth Alteration
“I must therefore, commend the management of NEMSA for displaying leadership by recognising the vital roles played by not just the national state actors and other stakeholders in NESI, but pertinently, the legislature and the judiciary, ” he said.
Mr Adelabu said that at the last count, not less than five states had enacted their own electricity laws and commended the legislature for their incessant resolve to bring to fruition necessary statutes with positive bearing on the lives of the citizenry.
“Be rest assured that the ministry under my leadership is dedicated to leading the engagements with the state governments to maintain standards across the board to ensure that desirable reforms are undertaken and guided against regulatory rupture, ‘’ he said.
Chairman, House Committee on Power, Mr Victor Okolo, said there was need to ensure that all electrical installations deployed in NESI met required technical standard regulation and specification.
Represented by Mr Rodney Ambaiowei, he said that the technical standard regulation and specification was to ensure that such system were capable of delivering safe and reliable electricity supply to guarantee safety of lives and property.
“We have observed that NEMSA, in an attempt to enforce its mandate, has met with stiff resistance in several occasions which is attributed to lack of adequate knowledge of the agency and its function.
“However, at the end of this conference, participants would have been better informed of the mandate of NEMSA and spread the message to those concerned.
“On our part, we assure the agency that it receives adequate funding and other support it needs to effectively discharge its responsibilities, ‘’ he said.
On his part, Mr Aliyu Tahir, Managing Director, NEMSA, said that the enforcement of technical standards and regulations was a very critical aspect in managing the growth of the electricity industry in any nation.
He said that technical standards and regulations helps to ensure that all electrical installations deployed in the NESI meet the required technical standards, regulations and specifications.
“This is to ensure that such systems are capable of delivering safe, reliable and sustainable electricity supply as well as guarantee safety of lives and property.
Mr Tahir said that to effectively achieve its core mandate of enforcement, NEMSA had 19 Inspectorate Field Offices (IFO), six National Meter Test Stations and one engineering and chemical laboratory.
According to him, those offices are manned by qualified, well-trained, skilled and well-motivated engineers, technical officers and other professionals.
He said that the agency also had plans to open meter test stations in the North East and North Central Geopolitical Zones of the country whenever there was approved fund for the project.
He said that NEMSA, in the course of carrying out its mandate in the power sector and other allied industries/workplaces in the past few years, met with resistance on several occasions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has said the implementation of the Defined Benefit Scheme Pension Harmonisation is a reform meant to advance and enhance pension payment equity in the country.
The chief executive of PTAD, Mrs Tolulope Abiodun Odunaiya, said this initiative was a landmark reform designed to restore fairness, improve retirees’ welfare and strengthen confidence in the administration of the country’s legacy pension system.
The harmonisation exercise marks one of the most significant policy interventions in the Defined Benefit Scheme since PTAD was established in 2013 to take over the management of pensions under the old federal pension arrangement.
Unlike periodic pension increases that merely raise existing benefits by a percentage, she stressed that pension harmonisation was further than that by recomputing pensions using the latest approved salary structures that existed before the closure of the Defined Benefit Scheme.
She noted that the objective is to ensure that retirees who held similar positions and rendered comparable years of service receive equitable pension benefits regardless of their retirement dates.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of years of agitation by pensioners over historical disparities in pension computation.
She added that the PTAD’s harmonisation programme seeks to resolve that challenge by restoring parity within the system. According to her, pension harmonisation is the formal recomputation of pensions using approved salary structures applicable before the DBS cut-off date.
In practical terms, it ensures that pension outcomes are determined by rank, grade level and years of service rather than the year of retirement.
The Directorate believes the exercise will significantly improve social justice by correcting historical inequities that disadvantaged thousands of retirees.
The harmonisation applies primarily to pure Federal Government pensioners as well as eligible retirees under the Parastatals Pension Department (PaPD), Defunct and Transferred Agencies Pension Department (DTAPD), and the Education and Health Pension Department (TEHPD), particularly those who initially served under the Federal Government before their agencies were transferred to state governments.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Police Force will today, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, arraign the controversial director-general of the non-existent Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), Mr Adeniyi Adeyemi.
The arraignment will take place before Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The police had charged Mr Adeyemi alongside two others with eight counts, including forgery and impersonation, in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/562/2025.
The case was initially filed on November 27, 2025, by Mr Wisdom Madaki, a police prosecutor.
Court proceedings had stalled on June 16, scheduled for Mr Adeyemi’s arraignment, due to his absence from court on grounds of ill health.
According to the court documents, proposed prosecution witnesses to testify against the defendants include the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; Paul Emmanuel, Jeremiah Imoukhede and Ituah Sylvester.
Others are civil servants working in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Akimbo Shola and Mr Adamu Balongu, a deputy superintendent of police, were on the list.
Also listed as witnesses are Mr Ojo Victor, Mr Omeh Amarachukwu, and Mr Wakili Saidu, all of whom were allegedly posted to work with Mr Adeyemi at the non-existent agency.
Others are Mrs Joy Ngwoke, the owner of Kachi Hotel in Abuja, and Mr Ven Okoriko, the pastor of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Maitama.
The documentary exhibits planned to be tendered by the prosecution to prove the case include the police investigation report, Mr Gbajabiamila’s petition dated October 17, 2025, and Mr Adeyemi’s fake presidential appointment letter dated March 8, 2024.
They also include the request for a note verbale by Mr Adeyemi sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the approvals he got to open accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the request for approval of self-accounting status Mr Adeyemi sent to the Accountant-General of the Federation’s office and the conveyance of approval for take-off of the PFIPC.
Other documents listed by the prosecution are a letter of request for collaboration with the ministry in the area of land acquisition and offices across the 36 states of the federation; statements of all the witnesses and that of the defendants, and pictures.
The police, in the court document, said, “The prosecution shall at the trial call any other related witness or witnesses to prove its case.”
The prosecution accused Mr Adeyemi of operating the fictitious agency from the 2nd Floor of the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja, Phase III, before his arrest.
Last week, President Bola Tinubu directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to conduct a thorough investigation into the activities of the fictitious agency.
The president gave the ICPC 30 days to complete the investigation, so it is currently unclear how the outcome of the ICPC investigation would impact the police prosecution.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A coordinated push to position gender inclusion as a driver of business competitiveness, investment and long-term economic growth has led to the introduction of the Nigeria Gender Country Programme (NGCP) by the private sector.
This initiative, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), aligns advisory expertise, funding and partnerships to strengthen women’s representation in leadership, improve access to quality employment, and expand access to finance, technology and markets for women and women-led businesses.
It builds on the CEO Roundtable held in June and the progress achieved through Nigeria2Equal, IFC’s earlier initiative, as it now moves into implementation, with participating organisations expected to adopt practical, measurable gender-smart business practices.
The economic case is significant, with the program underpinned by research showing that closing gaps in women’s leadership, employment and entrepreneurship could generate an estimated $22.9 billion in additional economic output annually, reinforcing the economic case for stronger private sector action on gender inclusion.
“Advancing women’s economic participation is no longer simply a social aspiration; it is a business imperative, an investment in productivity, a catalyst for innovation and a driver of sustainable economic growth.
“Through the Nigeria Gender Country Program, we are creating a practical framework that will help businesses strengthen leadership, expand opportunity and unlock the inclusion dividend for Nigeria’s economy,” the chairman of NGX Group, Mr Umaru Kwairanga, stated.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for women-led enterprises and strengthening inclusive economic development, while the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, represented by Ms Aishatu Digili, called for stronger collaboration between government, development institutions and the private sector to accelerate women’s economic empowerment and expand opportunities for women across key sectors of the economy.
The Division Director for West and Central Africa at IFC, Mr Olivier Buyoya, said, “Creating more and better jobs is central to IFC’s mission across Africa. Economies grow faster, and businesses perform better when women have equal opportunities to participate, lead, innovate and succeed.
“Through the Nigeria Gender Country Program, we are bringing together the private sector, capital markets and development partners to help companies turn this opportunity into stronger business performance, greater competitiveness and more inclusive growth. We look forward to working with Nigerian businesses to unlock the full economic potential of women as a driver of Nigeria’s future prosperity.”
Speaking on behalf of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Emomotimi Agama, the Commission’s Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement, Ms Frana Chukwuogor, said, “The Commission welcomes the Nigeria Gender Country Program as an important platform for deepening collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing in support of inclusive market development. We commend the IFC for its leadership in promoting inclusive private sector development globally, and for its partnership with Nigeria in strengthening our financial markets.”
