Nigeria: Electricity - NISO Pledges Reliable Grid, Seeks Public Trust

The newly established Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) on Tuesday pledged to enhance the reliability of the national grid and restore public confidence in the power sector.

Following 12 grid collapses in 2024 and one recorded incident so far in 2025, NISO--created by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to improve grid operations--has assured Nigerians and industry stakeholders of unbiased and efficient management of the grid system.

Speaking at the unveiling of NISO's logo and mission statement in Abuja, the Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Abdu Bello, said the agency is committed to serving all market participants fairly and professionally.

He emphasized that NISO would leverage modern technology to ensure a stable grid and seamless energy delivery to consumers.

He said: "We have commenced the Digitization and Automation Initiative, in partnership with global technology leaders Huawei. This will give us real-time system visibility, smart data analytics, and modern SCADA/EMS infrastructure. Let me put it simply: this is the kind of progress that turns institutions from reactive to proactive."

He said NISO has already started changing the tone by engaging stakeholders with a fresh posture".

He pointed out that already "the tone is changing. We are engaging stakeholders with a fresh posture. We are no longer an appendage, we are a principal actor and we now sit at the table with the authority of our mandate and the clarity of our purpose."

Bello explained that NISO has the capacity to deliver on its mandate adding: "NISO did not emerge from thin air. It was born out of reform mandated by law and driven by a national imperative for transparency, neutrality, and reliability in grid operations and electricity market coordination.

"The Electricity Act 2023, which repealed the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005, did not just change the rules, it changed the structure. And in that structure, NERC took a bold and necessary step to ring-fence the ISO functions from TCN and birth a fully independent system operator. A system operator with a name, a face, and a mission of its own".

He revealed the plans to deepen NISO participation with partners such as the West African Power Pool to contribute allies in regional electricity planning.

Read the original article on Vanguard.