Nigeria Approves $2.99bn Rail Projects, Forms Presidential Power Task Force

Key facts

• Federal Executive Council approved $2.99bn for three rail projects in Lagos, Kano, and Kaduna.
• N7tn approved for road and bridge projects, including N1.86tn Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway extension.
• President Tinubu appointed Rilwan Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration.
• The power task force is chaired personally by President Tinubu, with Babalola sitting in from time to time.
• The task force must deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint for the power sector reset.
• The Office of Special Adviser (Energy) was redesignated as Special Adviser (Oil & Gas) to avoid duplication.
• The 10-member power task force includes ministers, regulators, and representatives from generation and distribution companies.

Lede: A Sweeping Infrastructure and Energy Overhaul

Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council on Thursday approved a combined $2.99bn for three urban rail projects and over N7tn for road and bridge works, while President Bola Tinubu assumed personal command of a newly constituted power sector task force, signalling an aggressive push to address two of the country’s most intractable development bottlenecks. The decisions, announced after the weekly council meeting in Abuja, represent the most ambitious single-day infrastructure approval in recent years and come as the administration seeks to translate its Renewed Hope Agenda into tangible improvements in mobility and electricity supply. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele told State House correspondents that the rail contracts align with the government’s commitment to infrastructure that drives productivity, economic growth, and quality of life.

Three Rail Projects to Transform Urban Mobility

The approved rail projects are the Lagos Green Line rail project phase one, the Kano State Metro City Rail project, and the Kaduna State Light Rail project. Oyedele said the initiatives will be sponsored by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on behalf of the federal government, with counterpart funding from other sources. The Lagos Green Line, one of the most anticipated segments of the metropolitan rail network, is designed to run from Marina on Lagos Island through the Lekki corridor – one of sub-Saharan Africa’s densest commercial and residential hubs – and beyond. The Kano and Kaduna projects target two of northern Nigeria’s most economically significant urban centres, aiming to ease congestion and support commerce. Oyedele described Lagos, Kano, and Kaduna as critical cities where targeted investments could deliver outsized returns. “These three cities are very important and critical. All cities are important, but this is where you have your 10 percent effort yielding 90 percent results,” he said.

N7tn Road Contracts Span All Six Geopolitical Zones

In addition to the rail approvals, the council awarded contracts for road and bridge projects worth over N7tn, comprising 10 major projects covering all six geopolitical zones. Among them is a N1.86tn extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Akwa Ibom State, a N548.98bn contract to demolish and fully rebuild the Carter Bridge in Lagos, and a new N1.79tn section of the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway. The scale of the approvals underscores the administration’s determination to fast-track infrastructure development across the country, though questions about funding and execution timelines remain. The projects are expected to be financed through a mix of budgetary allocations, multilateral loans, and private capital.

Presidential Power Task Force: Tinubu Takes the Helm

The council also constituted a presidential power sector task force to be chaired by President Tinubu himself, a move that signals the highest level of political attention on the electricity crisis. Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris announced that the task force, formally named the Task Force on Power Sector Reform, will comprise 10 members including the Minister of Finance, Minister of State for Gas, Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Minister of Information, Attorney General, Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and one representative each from generation and distribution companies. Idris said the composition could be expanded at the President’s discretion. The task force emerged from a comprehensive review conducted by a committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, which was constituted on March 4 to establish and operationalise the Grid Asset Management Company. That committee undertook a thorough examination of the commercial, investment, and institutional framework underpinning GAMCO, leading to the far-reaching decisions announced Thursday.

Babalola Appointed to Drive Power Sector Reset

President Tinubu appointed Mr Rilwan Lanre Babalola as Special Adviser to the President on Power and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power Sector Reset and Restoration. Babalola, a former Minister for Power, brings deep sectoral expertise and a proven understanding of the structural and operational challenges within the electricity value chain, according to a statement from the State House. The President also redesignated the Office of the Special Adviser (Energy) as the Special Adviser (Oil & Gas) to clarify roles and avoid duplication of functions within the energy governance framework. Babalola’s appointment underscores the President’s determination to undertake a decisive and results-driven reset of Nigeria’s power sector. The task force will operate under a direct presidential mandate as a high-level, delivery-focused vehicle to restore discipline, efficiency, and commercial viability across the power sector, while ensuring effective coordination among relevant ministries, departments, and agencies.

90-Day Blueprint and Performance Targets

The task force’s mandate includes driving a comprehensive system reset of the electricity sector; implementing a “Performance Before Expansion” framework; reducing technical, commercial, and collection losses; and strengthening cost discipline and tariff integrity. It will also enhance revenue assurance and sector liquidity; restore grid discipline and market integrity; promote productive use of power across key sectors; develop Electricity Growth Zones; reduce fiscal exposure; and deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint. The President expects Babalola to bring urgency, discipline, and a strong execution focus to the assignment, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda, to deliver measurable improvements in power supply and sector performance. The 90-day timeline suggests the administration is aiming for quick wins, though the structural challenges in Nigeria’s power sector – including gas supply constraints, grid instability, and distribution company indebtedness – have resisted rapid fixes for decades.

Outlook: Ambitious Plans Meet Daunting Realities

The simultaneous approval of multi-billion-dollar rail and road projects alongside the creation of a presidential power task force reflects an administration that is attempting to tackle infrastructure and energy deficits in parallel. However, the success of these initiatives will depend on execution capacity, funding availability, and the ability to overcome entrenched inefficiencies. For the power sector, the personal chairmanship of President Tinubu could provide the political weight needed to enforce discipline among state-owned enterprises and private operators. Yet the task force’s composition – heavy on federal ministers and regulators but including only one representative each from generation and distribution companies – raises questions about whether the private sector’s voice will be adequately heard. As Nigeria’s population and economy continue to grow, the stakes could not be higher. The coming months will test whether this wave of approvals translates into visible improvements in the daily lives of Nigerians, or joins the long list of ambitious plans that foundered on implementation.

The bottom line

• The Federal Executive Council approved $2.99bn for three rail projects and over N7tn for road projects in a single session.
• President Tinubu personally chairs a new 10-member power sector task force, with former power minister Rilwan Babalola as special adviser.
• The power task force must deliver a 90-day implementation blueprint focusing on performance before expansion, loss reduction, and tariff integrity.
• The rail projects target Lagos, Kano, and Kaduna – cities described as critical for outsized economic returns.
• Road contracts include a N1.86tn extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and a N548.98bn rebuild of Carter Bridge.
• The Office of Special Adviser (Energy) was redesignated as Oil & Gas to avoid overlap with the new power adviser role.