Uche Cecil Izuora
The Group Managing Director of Sahara Group, Engr Kola Adeshina, has called for broader reforms in the electricity industry to make more Nigerians have access to electricity as he decried that Nigerians are becoming poorer in terms of access to electricity,
He stated that the the real task for the country is to expand energy access, deepen the industrial capacity and improve the reliability of its electricity supply while reducing the environmental cost of that expansion.
He spoke at Oriental News Nigeria 2026 Conference in Lagos on the theme, “Carbon Capture: Accelerating Decarbonisation Initiatives in Nigeria’s Extractive Industry Through Broad Regulatory Reforms,” with sub-theme: Addressing finance challenges, investment strategies, operational sustainability and climate change management.”
Adeshina said: “Nigeria needs two urgent needs. Nigeria must respond to climate change, it’s a global issue that we need to solve but it must also confront the daily reality of energy poverty as millions of Nigerians still have no access to electricity, many homes and businesses that are connected to the grid continue to experience unreliable supply.
“The world bank data indicates that approximately 62.5% of Nigerians have access to electricity in 2024, 62.4% but the population of the country has grown significantly between then and now where the energy infrastructure has not increased therefore in terms of energy sustainability and energy richness.
“Nigeria is becoming poorer in terms of access to electricity we also need to get this in mind so the choice before Nigeria is not just about good or about decarbonization, the real task is to expand energy access, deepen the industrial capacity and improve the reliability of our supply while reducing the environmental cost of that expansion. To do this needs a lot of things.
“We need to have to first run the regulatory reforms the regulatory conversations have already started. Nigeria’s cultural reports have developed policies and templates dealing with government the daily needs and energy importance, so the regulatory conversations have already started, the upstream industrial policies and templates dealing with the petroleum sector decarblnization, initial management and carbon markets there will be legislative discussions around the national decarbonization authority and a stronger framework for emissions reporting transition financing and climate related investment.
“These are very useful signals, for instance the proposed national decarbonization authority deal which proposed areas including monitoring, reporting and verification systems, transition finance mechanisms and a broader statutory framework but signals must now become systems, a market cannot scale on good intentions alone. It must scale on rules that investors, regulators, communities and operators can all understand and trust. We then go to the environmental challenges associated with carbon issues.”
Adeshina represented by Executive Director, Corporate Services, REA, Gboyega Ayoade, said that Sahara Group, as a company, is positioned as an African rooted energy company translating sustainability from corporate commitment into operational actions across the upstream.
He added that the group is focused on utility management, gas, power, LPG infrastructure, circular economy initiatives, and responsible business government.
According to him, Nigeria’s decarbonation challenge is no more defined by the shortage of ambitions. He stated that the urgent task is to convert vision into bankable projects, measurable emission reduction and commercially sustainable operations.
He stated that Nigeria has immense natural resources, geological potentials, technical capability and increasingly active regulatory environment.
He added that with all this, what is now required is policy coordination, reliable data, affordable capital and disciplined execution.
He advised that financing will determine the pace of progress.
He noted that Nigeria’s energy transition plan was designed to address energy poverty with a better mind and therefore deal with climate change as a consequential effect.
He stated that the nation needs to be focused on which is more important.
He said: “While thinking of the future, we want to live. The energy transition office estimates that our country will require hundred of billions of dollars. Above what we call business as usual, and there is already significant billions of dollars required for total business as usual, in order to reach net zero by 2016.