By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday appointed Rilwan Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
The appointment was announced in a State House press statement issued by the President’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
As part of the restructuring, the President also redesignated the Office of the Special Adviser (Energy) to Special Adviser (Oil & Gas), aimed at clarifying responsibilities and eliminating overlaps within the energy governance framework.
Babalola, a former Minister of Power, is expected to leverage his extensive sectoral experience to tackle longstanding structural and operational challenges across Nigeria’s electricity value chain.
The Presidential Taskforce, which he will lead, will operate under a direct presidential mandate as a high-level, results-driven body focused on restoring efficiency, discipline, and commercial viability in the power sector.
According to the statement, the taskforce will implement wide-ranging reforms, including a comprehensive system reset, enforcement of a “performance before expansion” framework, and reduction of technical, commercial, and collection losses.
Other key priorities include improving revenue assurance, strengthening tariff integrity, restoring grid discipline, enhancing market coordination, and promoting the productive use of electricity across critical sectors of the economy.
The taskforce is also expected to develop Electricity Growth Zones, reduce fiscal exposure, and deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint to accelerate reforms.
President Tinubu expressed confidence that Babalola will bring urgency, discipline, and strong execution to the role, in line with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, to achieve measurable improvements in power supply and overall sector performance.