The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has taken a significant step toward strengthening Nigeria’s evolving electricity market with the inauguration of a new collaborative platform designed to improve regulatory coordination across the country.
The initiative, known as the Forum of Nigerian Electricity Regulators (FONER), was formally launched during the first quarter 2026 Regulatory Meeting with State Electricity Regulators (SERs) held in Lagos. The development was disclosed in an official statement posted on the commission’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday.
The move comes at a critical time for Nigeria’s power sector, which has been grappling with widespread outages in recent months. These disruptions have largely been attributed to declining electricity generation, driven by a persistent shortage of gas supply to power plants—an issue that continues to strain the national grid and frustrate consumers nationwide.
Against this backdrop, FONER is expected to serve as a unifying platform for federal and state regulators, helping to streamline policies and ensure greater alignment in the oversight of the electricity market. According to NERC, the forum will focus on key regulatory priorities such as harmonising tariff structures, improving market operations, strengthening consumer protection frameworks, and enhancing institutional capacity through shared learning.
Speaking at the inauguration, NERC Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, described the forum as a landmark development in Nigeria’s transition toward a decentralised, multi-level electricity market structure enabled by the Electricity Act 2023. He stressed that closer collaboration among regulators is essential to preventing regulatory gaps that could be exploited by operators.
“We must work collaboratively to avoid regulatory arbitrage by operators. I charge all of us to carry out this mandate with the highest sense of responsibility,” Oseni stated, as he formally declared the forum inaugurated in line with statutory provisions.
Beyond coordination, the forum is also expected to function as a consultative body for ongoing electricity market reforms, promoting transparency, accountability, and the establishment of uniform regulatory standards across jurisdictions.
Key highlights of the meeting included a review of the fourth quarter 2025 action log, the signing and launch of the FONER Charter, and the formal inauguration of the forum’s leadership. Oseni will serve as Chairman, with Chijioke Okonkwo named as Vice Chairman, while Aisha Mahmud will act as Secretary.
The statement further noted that deliberations at the meeting centred on strengthening inter-agency collaboration and identifying practical solutions to improve the performance of Nigeria’s electricity supply industry. Observers say the success of the forum will largely depend on how effectively it translates dialogue into measurable improvements in power supply and service delivery for Nigerians.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s inauguration of the Forum of Nigerian Electricity Regulators marks a critical push to unify electricity regulation across federal and state levels—aimed at closing regulatory gaps and ultimately improving power supply despite ongoing challenges in the sector.
