Power Minister Set to Resign

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, is expected to resign from his position before the end of March 2026, following a directive from President Bola Tinubu requiring political appointees seeking elective office to step down.

The directive affects cabinet members and aides planning to contest in the 2027 general elections. Adelabu, who has declared his intention to run for governor of Oyo State, is among those impacted and is expected to comply with the order before the March 31 deadline.

A source within the Ministry of Power confirmed that the minister is preparing to leave office, citing his governorship ambition as his immediate priority. His spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji, did not respond to inquiries as of the time of reporting.

Adelabu’s anticipated exit comes amid ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s power sector and without meeting his stated goal of increasing electricity supply to 6,000 megawatts. Current output from the national grid remains significantly lower, with distribution companies receiving about 3,331 megawatts as of this week.

Electricity supply has remained unstable across the country, with frequent outages affecting homes and businesses. Industry stakeholders have attributed the shortfall largely to gas supply constraints, which have limited generation capacity to between 2,000 and 3,900 megawatts in recent months.

The situation has been further strained by financial issues in the sector. Power generation companies recently shut down several gas-fired plants over unresolved legacy debts estimated at more than N6.8 trillion.