President Bola Tinubu has appointed Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe as the new Minister of Power, a role that puts an engineer with more than three decades of experience at the helm of Nigeria's struggling electricity sector. Tegbe brings 30 years of work in engineering, management consulting, and energy policy to a ministry that has struggled with chronic underinvestment, ageing infrastructure, and poor service delivery across the country.
Tegbe's appointment signals Tinubu's intention to bring technical expertise into the power sector, an area that has frustrated successive governments and continues to plague Nigeria's economic development. The sector remains one of the most critical pain points for the government, with power generation, transmission, and distribution still falling short of what the country needs.
Little is publicly known about Tegbe's specific roles and achievements in the energy space, but his background in engineering and consulting suggests he understands both the technical and business sides of the power industry. Nigeria has long struggled to attract the kind of professional management the power sector requires, with previous ministers coming from varying backgrounds and with mixed results.
The power ministry oversees the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity across Nigeria, a complex operation involving multiple agencies including the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Distribution Companies. It also handles policy on energy sources, including ongoing debates about gas, renewables, and hydroelectric power. Tegbe will inherit an energy system where many Nigerians still lack reliable electricity despite years of reform efforts and billions in investments.
Tegbe is expected to hit the ground running on issues including the cost of electricity, frequent blackouts in major cities, rural electrification, and the integration of renewable energy into the national grid. His appointment comes as the government also seeks to improve power supply for manufacturing and reduce the cost of doing business in Nigeria, where many companies run private generators because public supply is unreliable. Tegbe will be sworn in alongside other ministers in Tinubu's cabinet and will begin engaging with power sector stakeholders immediately.
