By Oxford Reporters
For millions of Nigerians living in communities beyond the reliable reach of the national electricity grid, access to dependable power remains one of the country’s most persistent development challenges. But across Nigeria, a new approach to closing that gap is taking shape, built around renewable energy, decentralised electricity systems, private-sector participation and data-driven planning.
At the centre of that effort is Dr. Abba Abubakar Aliyu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), the Federal Government institution responsible for expanding electricity access to unserved and underserved communities.
Dr. Aliyu’s emergence as head of the agency followed years of experience spanning organisational development, management, the electricity market and renewable-energy project implementation. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed him substantive Managing Director of REA in January 2025 for an initial four-year term, after he had served as Acting Managing Director from March 2024.
His appointment brought to the agency an executive whose professional experience had already been closely connected to some of Nigeria’s most important electricity-access initiatives.
Aliyu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Bayero University, Kano, and has undertaken executive education programmes at Columbia University and The Wharton School. His professional journey also cuts across banking, consulting, human-capital development and the power sector.
Before his elevation to the leadership of REA, Aliyu held several senior positions at Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, where he acquired extensive experience in the electricity market, corporate administration, projects and human resources. His earlier career in organisational development also gave him experience in performance management, business transformation and institutional capacity building.
That combination of management and electricity-sector experience became particularly relevant when he assumed responsibility for the Nigeria Electrification Project’s Project Management Unit at REA.
The Nigeria Electrification Project, supported by a $550 million financing package from the World Bank and African Development Bank, was designed to expand electricity access through renewable-energy solutions while encouraging private investment in Nigeria’s off-grid electricity market.
The experience positioned Aliyu at the heart of Nigeria’s emerging transition from a power-access model heavily dependent on conventional grid expansion to one that recognises the importance of mini-grids, solar systems and other decentralised solutions.
Since becoming substantive Managing Director of REA, Aliyu has continued to pursue that direction, with the agency placing significant emphasis on expanding renewable-energy infrastructure to communities and institutions that have historically struggled to receive reliable electricity.
Recently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Rural Electrification Agency. Fayose’s appointment, alongside other board members, is expected to provide strategic oversight and additional institutional support to the agency as Dr. Aliyu leads the implementation of its electrification programmes. The appointment is part of the Federal Government’s effort to strengthen the governance and strategic direction of REA.
One of the major programmes under the agency’s current drive is the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, known as DARES. The $750 million programme is designed to expand renewable-energy access to about 17.5 million Nigerians through 1,350 mini-grids, including 250 interconnected mini-grids, as well as more than one million solar home systems.
The scale of the programme reflects the size of the electricity-access challenge facing the country, but it also represents a shift in the way the government is approaching the problem.
Rather than waiting for every community to be reached through conventional grid expansion, renewable-energy technologies are being deployed according to the circumstances of individual locations.
That strategy has been strengthened by REA’s nationwide energy-mapping exercise. Aliyu disclosed in 2026 that the agency had completed an energy map identifying more than 750,000 communities. The exercise is intended to provide information on the electricity status of communities, household numbers and the most appropriate technology for each location.
For Aliyu, such information is essential to ensuring that investments are targeted at the communities where they are most needed and that the technology deployed matches local conditions.
His administration has also placed considerable attention on public institutions, particularly universities and healthcare facilities, where dependable electricity is essential for education, research and medical services.
By July 2026, Aliyu disclosed that 15 universities had been fully connected to solar farms through REA interventions. The agency has also been advancing renewable-energy projects for other public institutions, including a 6MW hybrid mini-grid for Bayero University, Kano, and a 1.5MW solar mini-grid project for the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala.
The significance of such projects extends beyond electricity generation. In universities, reliable power can support laboratories, research facilities, lecture theatres, accommodation and digital infrastructure. In hospitals, it can help reduce dependence on diesel generators and provide more dependable electricity for critical medical equipment and services.
The agency’s current approach also places importance on productive use of electricity. The objective is not simply to connect communities to power, but to enable electricity to support businesses, agriculture, markets, education and other economic activities.
For rural communities, reliable electricity can mean the difference between manually processing agricultural products and using electric equipment, between losing perishable goods and preserving them, or between operating a small enterprise for limited hours and keeping it running for longer periods.
Aliyu has equally been seeking to deepen the role of private capital in Nigeria’s renewable-energy expansion. Under his leadership, REA has engaged financial institutions on mechanisms that could provide equipment financing, debt financing and bridge financing for renewable-energy operators.
The thinking is that government funding alone cannot meet the enormous capital requirement involved in extending electricity access to millions of Nigerians. Creating an environment in which private developers and financial institutions can participate is therefore becoming an important component of the agency’s strategy.
Another emerging feature of the REA leadership under Aliyu is the push for greater local participation in renewable-energy manufacturing.
In June 2026, REA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, aimed at promoting local manufacturing and deployment of renewable-energy equipment.
The initiative is intended to support Nigeria’s effort to develop domestic capacity in the renewable-energy value chain rather than relying excessively on imported equipment. If successfully implemented, it could create opportunities for local manufacturing, technical skills development, employment and technology transfer while supporting the country’s expanding renewable-energy market.
Aliyu has also linked the agency’s infrastructure programmes with the broader development agenda of the Federal Government.
In September 2026, REA entered into a partnership with Family Homes Funds Limited to incorporate renewable-energy planning into affordable housing developments. The partnership reflects an approach in which electricity infrastructure is considered as part of broader community and housing development rather than as an isolated intervention.
Beyond infrastructure, Aliyu has emphasised the importance of institutional accountability in the management of REA’s programmes.
In June 2026, the agency organised anti-corruption and integrity training for senior management and Project Management Unit officials in collaboration with the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
The training addressed areas including procurement integrity, conflict of interest, ethical leadership and transparency in project implementation, underscoring the importance of accountability in an agency responsible for managing large public and development-partner-funded programmes.
The combination of infrastructure expansion, renewable-energy deployment, energy mapping, institutional solarisation, private-sector financing and local manufacturing gives Aliyu’s tenure a broad policy footprint.
Aliyu’s career has prepared him for precisely that intersection of policy, management, finance, electricity-market development and project execution. From his early experience in organisational development to senior responsibilities in the power sector and his leadership of major electrification programmes, his professional journey has increasingly converged around one of Nigeria’s most important development questions: how to deliver dependable electricity to people and communities that have remained outside the reach of conventional power infrastructure.
As Managing Director of REA, he now has the responsibility of translating that experience into measurable results across the country.
The projects underway, particularly DARES, the nationwide energy mapping programme, interconnected mini-grids, solarisation of public institutions and partnerships aimed at attracting private investment and developing local manufacturing, represent significant components of that effort.
For Nigeria, the ultimate measure will not be the number of projects announced or contracts signed, but the number of homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, farms and communities that eventually receive dependable and sustainable electricity.
That is the challenge before Dr. Abba Abubakar Aliyu and the Rural Electrification Agency — and it is also the opportunity to redefine what rural electrification can mean for Nigeria’s next phase of economic and social development.
Written by Emma Peter, Journalist based in Abuja. For your feature, editorial or advert contact us: 09152514499.
