Tension rippled through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) headquarters in Abuja on Friday as Engr. Abdullahi Garba Ramat — President Bola Tinubu’s nominee for Chairman/CEO — strode into office and assumed duties without the legally required Senate confirmation.
The drama unfolded barely a day after the Presidency issued, then quietly altered, a statement that had initially empowered Ramat to act pending legislative approval. The revised release from Presidential Adviser Bayo Onanuga made no mention of any interim takeover, stressing instead that Ramat’s appointment — along with those of Abubakar Yusuf (Consumer Affairs) and Dr. Fouad Olayinka Animashun (Finance and Management Services) — would remain “subject to Senate confirmation.” The current acting chairman, it said, would stay on until that process was complete.
Undeterred, Ramat arrived at NERC flanked by a sizeable entourage of political loyalists and was welcomed by Vice Chairman Musiliu Oseni and other commissioners. In a brief handover address, the 39-year-old PhD holder in Strategic Management pledged to confront Nigeria’s power sector challenges head-on.
“We are here to learn, review processes, and improve the efficiency of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” he told reporters. “It will not be business as usual — DisCos and GenCos must do the right things.”
The optics of his premature takeover have ignited debate over due process and the sanctity of statutory appointment procedures. By law, NERC’s leadership can only assume duty after Senate confirmation, making Friday’s events a lightning rod for questions about governance discipline inside the country’s electricity regulator.