Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu resigns, unveils plans to run for Governor of Oyo State

• Adebayo Adelabu steps down as minister of power after three years

• The former minister resigned to pursue his ambition to become the governor of Oyo State.

• President Tinubu will is expected to appoint a replacement in the coming days.

Adebayo Adelabu's three-year stint as Nigeria's minister of power came to an end on April 22, 2026, after his resignation was received by President Bola Tinubu.

In the letter resigning his position, Adelabu thanked the President for the opportunity to serve and play a role in advancing reforms in the power sector.

Adelabu further added that his decision to resign from his position as the Minister of Power was informed by his desire to focus on his ambition of running for the governorship position in Oyo state. Adelabu, who previously ran in 2019 under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress, lost to the incumbent Seyi Makinde of the People's Democratic Party.

Adebayo Adelabu's tenure as the minister of power was an eventful one marked by a massive degradation of Nigerian power generation capacity. In 2026, the country's power sector suffered a severe setback with thermal generation companies shutting down due to a gas shortage. The deteriorating power situation led to protests in Lagos, Osun, and Edo states as households and businesses suffered from the national blackout.

In March 2026, Adelabu held a press conference where he apologised to Nigerians for the poor power supply across the country and revealed that the situation was beyond the government's control.

The shortage of gas to thermal power generation companies has been blamed on a backlog of payments owed to gas suppliers. The power generation company placed the debt owed by the federal government from its unfunded electricity subsidy at 6 trillion naira, which they claim has made the companies incapable of offsetting debts to gas suppliers. The Tinubu administration reviewed the claim and concluded that the actual figure of the debt is 3.3 trillion naira

While President Tinubu has approved the process to kick-start the payment to the generating companies, the power situation in the country has yet to improve. In his last press conference, Adelabu stated that Nigeria needs an investment of $100 billion to achieve a stable power supply.

In a bid to address the power supply issues, Tinubu set up the Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO) to improve power generation and transmission and tackle the low performance of the national grid.

So far, Nigeria's power sector is struggling to produce 4,000 megawatt for over 200 million people despite the country having an installed capacity of 15,000 megawatt.

While speaking at the Federal Executive Council on April 21, President Tinubu blamed the previous administration's poor privatisation process for the issues plaguing the country's power sector.

As Adebayo Adelabu bows out of his position, the public will be keen to see who the President appoints as his replacement to lead the ministry and tackle the issues of the power sector that have so far defied reforms.