Tegbe inaugurates new REA board, charges members to prioritise ordinary Nigerians

By Onu Okorie

Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, on Thursday inaugurated the newly constituted Governing Board of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), urging its members to ensure that every decision they take is guided by how it improves the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.

The ceremony, held in Abuja, was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Board Chairman and former Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, REA’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, other Board members, and top management of the Ministry.

Speaking at the event, Tegbe described the constitution of the Board as consistent with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s drive to strengthen governance and accountability across public institutions. He described REA as an institution for expanding opportunity, noting that every mini-grid, solar home system and electrified market, school, health centre or farm represents an investment in human capital and economic inclusion.

The Minister cited the Agency’s existing initiatives — the Energizing Education, Economies and Agriculture Programmes, as well as the Africa Mini-Grids Programme — as evidence of that strategy already at work. He noted that the Board, constituted under Section 130 of the Electricity Act, takes office at a defining moment for the Agency.

On governance, Tegbe drew a clear distinction between the Board’s non-executive role of providing strategic direction and oversight, and Management’s responsibility for day-to-day execution. He explained that the Board would meet quarterly to review performance, while Management retains operational latitude between meetings, subject to full accountability.

The Minister commended Chairman Fayose’s record as a former Governor of Ekiti State and welcomed the other members of the Board, assuring them of the Ministry’s continued partnership. He described electricity as an instrument of inclusion, opportunity and prosperity.

Responding on behalf of the Board, Chairman Fayose described President Tinubu’s decision to appoint Tegbe as Minister of Power as a statement of seriousness rather than a routine appointment — a signal, he said, that the administration would settle for nothing less than a lasting solution to Nigeria’s power problem.

Fayose described Tegbe as a technocrat whose technical depth and managerial competence have already produced a positive turning point for the sector, and affirmed that REA’s leadership was proud to work with him in that effort.