Rilwan Lanre Babalola was appointed

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n Minister of Power on 17 December 2008 after a cabinet shuffle by President

Umaru Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 Ma ...

. He left office in March 2010 when Acting President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...

dissolved his cabinet.

Background

Babalola gained a PhD in Energy Economics from the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was an investment banker with Lead Bank in charge of the Public Sector and Infrastructure Department. Babalola joined the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in November 2001 as head of the Power Sector Team. Under a program assisted by

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

and later the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, he was responsible for reform measures including setting up the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and unbundling the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). After leaving the BPE, he was Deputy General Manager at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for a short period. He then joined the Economic Advisory Team of President Umar Yar'adua.

Minister of Power

Appointed Minister of Power in December 2008, Babalola faced a challenging job, with severe lack of power generation and transmission facilities, tangled regulations and a highly ambitious program to expand capacity. In February 2009 Babalola suspended the Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Ransome Owan, and six commissioners. They had been arrested by the

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a Nigerian law enforcement and anti-graft agency that investigates financial crimes and unknown transactions such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud) and money laundering. The EFCC was establ ...

(EFCC) on 3 February 2009 for allegedly misappropriating N1.54 billion in 2008. Babalola had initiated the action. In March 2009, he said President Yar'Adua has approved removal of the Executive Vice chairman of PHCN, Bello Suleiman, and two executive directors, due to disagreements about how the massive investment in the power industry by the Federal Government should be allocated. In September 2009 Babalola argued that delivering 6000MW of generating capacity was highly ambitious but attainable. In February 2010 it was revealed that power supply had in fact fallen to 2,700 mW from 3,710 mW at the end of the previous year. Babalola blamed the problem on inadequate natural gas supply for the new generators. Failure to meet the target resulted in calls for his dismissal. In January 2010 Babalola said that there would be a slow-down in the process of unbundling the Power Holding Company of Nigeria due to concerns about the viability of private power generation in the current tariff and regulatory structure, and the need to establish rules to ensure a level playing field in the competitive market. He announced plans that included construction of additional gas-fired generation stations near the source of supply in the Niger Delta, reducing vulnerability to pipeline disruptions, and major projects to build transmission and distribution facilities to eliminate bottlenecks in the grid. He also said the government was encouraging private-sector power generation projects. Babalola left office on 17 March 2010 when Acting President

dissolved his cabinet. When a new cabinet was formed on 6 April 2010, President Jonathan took personal responsibility for the Ministry of Power, and did not name a minister.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babalola, Rilwan Lanre Living people 1968 births Alumni of the University of Surrey Federal ministers of Nigeria Yoruba politicians