BENUE STATE SIGNS ELECTRICITY LAW — BECOMES LATEST STATE TO CLAIM POWER SECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Governor Alia signs bill into law; state joins growing list pursuing electricity autonomy under constitutional amendment

Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has signed the Benue State Electricity Law into effect, formally establishing the state's independent electricity regulatory framework and making Benue the latest Nigerian state to exercise its constitutional authority over its own power generation, transmission, and distribution.

The signing follows months of legislative and regulatory preparation and positions Benue to attract investment in state-specific electricity infrastructure, build decentralised power systems, and reduce dependence on the chronically unreliable national grid, a particular priority for Benue's significant agricultural processing and manufacturing activity.

The move aligns Benue with a growing number of Nigerian states, including Ekiti, Enugu, and Lagos, that have exercised the power devolution provisions contained in the constitutional amendment to the 1999 Constitution, which created a framework for state-level electricity independence alongside the national grid system.

For Nigerian SMEs operating in states that have established or are establishing their own electricity frameworks, the practical implication is the eventual availability of state-specific electricity licenses, tariff structures, and investment channels that can produce more localised, predictable, and potentially cheaper power than the national distribution companies have delivered.

Ondo State separately accused the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission of continuing to exercise control over state electricity functions despite the constitutional framework change, highlighting the regulatory transition tensions that still need to be resolved before state-level power independence delivers fully for businesses.