The Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musiliu O. Oseni, on Wednesday inaugurated the Forum of Nigerian Electricity Regulators (FoNER), positioning it as a central platform to deepen coordination across federal and state regulators and address what he described as a fundamental “electricity market problem” in the country.

The establishment of FoNER comes amid ongoing efforts to stabilise Nigeria’s electricity sector, which continues to grapple with liquidity constraints, infrastructure deficits, and regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions.

Speaking at the inauguration held on March 25, 2026, Oseni said the creation of the Forum marks a deliberate effort to align regulatory frameworks, strengthen consumer protection, and unlock investment in Nigeria’s power sector.
“Electricity is the oxygen for economic growth and prosperity. Unfortunately, our industry is fraught with varying challenges which required effective coordination and synergy among the captains of the industry,” he said.

The NERC boss stressed that while regulators are often seen as arbiters, their role extends further into shaping the sector’s trajectory through innovation, investment facilitation, and public interest protection.
“We gather today not merely to witness the formal inauguration of a body, but to architect the future of our industry,” Oseni added.

He explained that the Forum would serve as a structured mechanism to ensure collaboration between NERC and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs), particularly in the wake of reforms introduced under the Electricity Act 2023, which decentralised aspects of electricity regulation.

According to him, the journey to establishing FoNER followed months of consultations and technical engagements. A Technical Working Group (TWG) comprising representatives from NERC and SERCs was constituted on September 26, 2025, with a clear mandate to “design an institutional framework to enable coordination, coherence and regulatory alignment across jurisdictions”.

The TWG subsequently held its inaugural meeting on November 11, 2025, and developed a draft charter that was presented at the fourth quarter 2025 regulatory meeting on December 1, 2025. After incorporating submissions from state regulators, a validation workshop held on February 24, 2026, led to the finalisation of the charter on March 2, 2026.

“With the signing of the Charter today, the Forum now transitions from concept to institution,” Oseni said, commending members of the TWG and other stakeholders for their contributions.

He outlined the Forum’s objectives to include facilitating dialogue on regulatory issues, promoting harmonised approaches to tariff setting and market operations, supporting capacity building, and advancing transparency and accountability across the sector.

Oseni said the initiative would also serve as a consultative platform for electricity market reforms and help establish national regulatory benchmarks.

“Inaugurating this Forum means embracing the obligation to shape our industry for prosperity through coordinated regulatory actions,” he said.

Highlighting the structural challenges in the sector, the NERC chairman warned against narrow interpretations of the industry’s problems, noting that the core issue lies in market sustainability rather than isolated constraints in generation, transmission, or distribution.

“The challenge facing our industry is often reduced to a specific segment of the value chain: generation, transmission or distribution problem. However, this reductionism is misleading – the key issue is: we have an electricity market problem!” he said.

He added: “The main question is not how much power can we generate? Rather, the key question is: how can our market operate sustainably?”

Oseni urged regulators to work collaboratively to prevent regulatory arbitrage by operators and ensure that reforms deliver economic value.

“We must work collaboratively to avoid regulatory arbitrage by the operators. I charge all of us to carry out this mandate with the highest sense of responsibility,” he said.

Citing provisions of the Electricity Act, Oseni formally declared the Forum inaugurated, stating: “Pursuant to Section 230(9) of the EA 2023, I hereby declare the Forum of Nigerian Electricity Regulators duly inaugurated.”