President Bola Tinubu has unveiled plans to establish a Grid Asset Management Company (GAMCO), aiming to tackle persistent challenges in Nigeria’s electricity sector, particularly within the transmission segment.

The announcement was made by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during a briefing with State House correspondents on Wednesday, following a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the President.

According to Idris, the proposal, presented by President Tinubu himself in a memorandum to the Council, seeks to strengthen the transmission component of the electricity value chain, which the government identifies as the sector’s most critical bottleneck.

“Since the deregulation of the power sector, it has been divided into three categories: generation, transmission, and distribution. The President has observed that the main challenges in delivering stable electricity largely reside in the transmission segment,” Idris said.

The proposed GAMCO will be responsible for managing and reinforcing the national electricity grid to enhance power delivery nationwide. To implement the initiative, the FEC approved the formation of an inter-ministerial committee to develop the operational framework for the new entity.

The committee will include the Minister of Power, Minister of State for Gas, Minister of Works, Minister of Finance, Chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service, Minister of Science and Technology, and the Attorney-General of the Federation. Additional stakeholders may also be co-opted as required.

Idris explained that the panel will review all regulatory, legal, and investment considerations linked to establishing GAMCO, ensuring that the interests of existing investors and operators in the sector are protected. “All enabling parameters will be examined, laws scrutinized, and the investments of current stakeholders will be duly considered,” he added.

The proposal is still under development, and the committee’s recommendations will eventually be submitted to the National Assembly for legislative backing where necessary.

The initiative forms part of the administration’s broader strategy to consolidate ongoing economic reforms and accelerate industrialisation, with the government asserting that resolving the power sector challenges is essential for sustaining economic growth and boosting productivity. Idris highlighted recent improvements in Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators, including rising foreign reserves and easing inflation, as supportive factors for energy sector reforms.

“The President believes that for Nigeria to industrialise effectively, the power sector must be fixed. This initiative on GAMCO is central to that objective,” Idris said.

In a separate development, the FEC approved an additional exit benefit scheme for retiring civil servants under the contributory pension scheme. The scheme will provide retiring employees with benefits of up to 100 percent of their total emoluments, in line with Section 4(4)(a) of the Pension Reform Act. Idris noted that the measure is designed to improve efficiency and motivation within the civil service by strengthening the welfare framework for employees approaching retirement.