Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, is set to leave the administration of Bola Tinubu without achieving his 6,000-megawatt electricity supply target.
The development follows a directive by President Tinubu mandating all ministers, aides, and political appointees seeking elective offices in the 2027 general elections to resign on or before March 31, 2026, in line with provisions of the Electoral Act.
Adelabu, who has declared his intention to contest the Oyo State governorship election in 2027, is among those affected by the directive and is expected to step down before the deadline.
Efforts to get an official response from his spokesperson, Bolaji Tunji, were unsuccessful as calls and messages were not returned as of the time of filing this report.
However, a senior source within the Ministry of Power confirmed that the minister is prepared to resign. “He is ready to bow out. His immediate focus is the Oyo governorship in 2027,” the source said.
The source added that several contenders are already positioning to succeed Adelabu but warned that the incoming minister would face significant challenges, describing Nigeria’s power sector as being in a deep crisis.
Adelabu’s exit comes amid persistent struggles in the electricity sector, with the national grid supplying just 3,331 megawatts as of Tuesday—far below his 6,000MW target, which he had earlier projected to achieve by 2025.
In recent months, Nigerians have continued to experience widespread blackouts and unstable power supply. Industry stakeholders, including the Nigerian Integrated System Operator and electricity distribution companies, have attributed the challenges largely to gas shortages, which have limited generation to between 2,000MW and 3,900MW.
The situation worsened on Tuesday as power generation companies shut down several gas-fired plants over unresolved legacy debts estimated at over N6.8 trillion.
With less than two weeks to his expected resignation, Adelabu is set to leave office without meeting the ambitious electricity supply target that defined his tenure.