Olushola Omogbehin
The minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has officially tendered his resignation letter as a minister effective April 30, 2026, to focus on his gubernatorial ambition in Oyo State.
This was disclosed in a letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
In the letter, Adelabu expressed profound gratitude for the opportunity to serve, describing his two-and-a-half-year tenure as a “rare honour.”
He cited the Amended Electoral Act 2026, which bars political officeholders from contesting elections, as the key reason for stepping down.
Adelabu who described his service in the power sector as unique and rewarding in spite of his finance background, said the experience would better equip him for state administration in infrastructure, reforms, and service delivery.
He recalled inheriting a sector in crisis in 2023, with generation at 3,500-4,500 megawatts against over 13,000 megawatts installed, constrained transmission, high distribution losses, widespread unmetered billing, and N4 trillion in debts.
Acknowledging the current challenges in the ministry such as gas shortages, vandalism, and commercialization gaps, he at the same time mention progress under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Some of these progress according to him are the Electricity Act 2023 for a decentralised market; peak generation exceeding 6,000 megawatts via Zungeru Hydropower and thermal rehabilitations; transmission enhancements like new transformers and substations; stronger distribution oversight, better revenue collection, and falling ATC&C losses; and advances in metering.
He recommended appointing a coordinating minister for Energy to integrate power, gas, water, and environmental efforts, including investing in transmission; enforcing standards and coordinating federal-state regulators.
He also recommended implementing cost-reflective tariffs with subsidies for the vulnerable; recapitalizing distribution firms and accelerating metering;
This marks his second resignation for similar ambitions; he left his role as deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2018 to pursue the Oyo governorship.
