Fayose Takes Charge of REA Board, Vows Massive Rural Electrification Drive

​ABUJA — Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, officially assumed office on Friday as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), pledging to drive transformative reforms and deliver unprecedented results in the nation’s power sector.

​Fayose was inaugurated alongside Alhaji Ahmadu Abubakar, Mr. Ilyasu Makinta, and three other non-executive members, alongside Mr. Abba Aliyu, who continues in his role as the Managing Director of the agency.

​Expressing profound gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for the appointment, Fayose emphasized that his primary mission is to leverage strong political will to elevate the agency. He assured Nigerians that the board would aggressively pursue funding avenues to execute both short and long-term electrification blueprints.

​”Work has started in earnest; we are reaching out very fast and appealing to people to ensure the work is done,” Fayose stated. “I want to use this window to assure Nigerians that your expectation about my appointment and my colleagues will not be dashed. We will give our best to achieve the renewed hope of President Tinubu for the country to be better for us all.”

​Addressing grassroots challenges, the newly minted board chairman noted that the agency’s mandate extends beyond mere infrastructure deployment to actively improving the socio-economic reality of the populace. “When this happens, the people will forever be indebted to the agency,” he added.

​Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Power, Mr. Joseph Tegbe, highlighted a strategic shift in the nation’s energy sector. He noted that the focus has evolved from merely tallying megawatts and kilowatts to evaluating actual human impact and community empowerment.

​”We are moving from just counting kilowatts and megawatts to how many communities and people were powered in the country,” Tegbe remarked. He described the REA as a fundamental institution for expanding opportunity, noting that every mini-grid, solar home system, electrified school, healthcare centre, and farm directly translates to human capital development and national prosperity.

ADVERTISEMENT

​The minister stressed that as reforms deepen across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) under the implementation of the Electricity Act, the REA remains a crucial bridge connecting national policy to grassroots realities, ensuring that remote settlements share equitably in the fruits of power sector reforms.

​Tegbe charged the newly inaugurated board to anchor its tenure on transparency, strategic oversight, innovation, and accountability, urging members to maintain a singular compass for decision-making: “How does this improve the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians?”

​In his remarks, REA Managing Director Abba Aliyu thanked the President for the continued trust, assuring stakeholders that the agency remains steadfast in its commitment to bridging energy gaps for both served and underserved communities across the federation.