The Executive Director of the Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Chief Princewill Okorie, has stated that the creation of the Grid Asset Management Company Limited (GAMCO) was not intended to solve the nation’s power problem, rather an avenue to embezzle government money.
Chief Okorie, who spoke exclusively to TheFact Daily on Wednesday, said the creation of GAMCO would worsen the existing crisis in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
He explained that if the current administration was serious about addressing the protracted issues in the power sector, it would have reinforced the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), or the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC (NBET)that is currently not playing any major role, instead of creating another one.
“The government keeps running round the cycle. They are not ready to address the power issues. NBET is not playing any major role, while creating another one. How is the job of GAMCO different from the one being performed by NEMSA? They are just creating an avenue for themselves to eat government money,” Chief Okorie said.
Recall that on Friday, March 6, 2026, President Bola Tinubu constitutedan 11-member committee for the incorporation of the newly approved GAMCO).
The committee’s constitution, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, followed the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the company’s establishment at its meeting on Wednesday last week.
Onanuga explained that in proposing GAMCO, President Tinubu hopes to fast-track a quick-fix solution to the endemic problems of stranded power, grid management and transmission in the country’s electricity sector.
Hesaid the committee would conduct a comprehensive review of existing laws, regulations, policies, and institutional frameworks governing the electricity value chain, including generation, transmission, distribution, and market operations.
According to him, the Committee is expected to examine the implications of the Electricity Reform Laws (2025) and related unbundling arrangements on asset ownership, management, and regulatory oversight. It would also identify areas of conflict, overlap, or inconsistency between the proposed GAMCO framework and extant legal and regulatory instruments.
He said the committee would also assess the legal status, ownership structure, and contractual obligations of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) assets, including the Omotosho, Olorunshogo, and Ihovbor plants, which GAMCO plans to use for its pilot phase.
“It will evaluate the interface between GAMCO’s proposed mandate and the statutory functions of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, and determine the fiscal, financial, and market implications of the proposal, including subsidy exposure, market liquidity, and revenue frameworks.
“In addition, the committee will determine whether the establishment and operationalisation of GAMCO require amendments to primary legislation, subsidy regulations, and executive directives,” the statement added.
GAMCO aims to recover and optimise stranded power generation using the Benin-Lagos transmission corridor as a pilot phase. However, industry watchers see the GAMCO’s mandate as duplication of functions already being performed in the power sector. They also submitted that the creation of GAMCO would create a deeper crisis in the sector.
