Chief Olusegun Obasanjo served as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1999-2007.  Under his watch, the power sector were given the much needed attention it lacked prior to 1999. His administration initiated significant reform initiatives and projects in the Power Sector, most of which are still in existence and contributing to the growth and development of Nigeria’s economy today.

Some of the achievements recorded in the Power sector by President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration include:

  1. The development of the National Electric Power Policy, Nigeria’s first electricity policy document.
  2. Enactment of the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act in 2005, which remains the principal law in the Power Sector and one of the greatest achievements by any administration in the power sector till date. The EPSRA set in motion the unbundling of the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) into its successor entities, creation of, and subsequent privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) as well as the creation of a private sector driven competitive electricity market.
  3. Establishment of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the regulator of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
  4. Construction and commissioning of several gas based power plants, financed under innovative international funding structures. During his administration, more than six thermal IPPs were of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) initiative, which led to the construction of ten (10) thermal power generation plants to add an additional generation capacity of 5000MW built and commissioned. Some of these IPPs included the 276MW Afam (II) IPP, the 480MW Agip Okpai IPP, the Ibom IPP, Rivers IPP, the 330MW Papalanto IPP, Omotosho 330 MW IPP, 414MW Geregu IPP amongst others.
  5. Implementation to the national grid, construction and injection sub-stations, the rehabilitation and expansion of electricity distribution infrastructure of thousands of kilometres of high voltage and medium voltage transmission lines across the Federation, as well as the construction of new gas pipelines to deliver natural gas to thermal power stations.
  6. Introduced the first mass prepayment meter roll-out in Nigeria under the National Prepaid Metering Programme.

The power sector reforms and projects initiated by the Obasanjo administration continue to contribute to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy. The conferment of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Power sector is in recognition of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s immeasurable contributions and achievement to the power sector.

We now invite His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to receive this Lifetime Achievement award.