Adefola Amoo

Technology, Security, Public Sector – for the greater good.

Calm Down, Bayelsa, Light is Coming

Special Report · Bayelsa Power · April 2026

Calm Down, Bayelsa.
The Light Is Coming.

The Elebele plant has been commissioned. Here is exactly what that means — and why the electricity will reach your home sooner than you think.

By Squadron Leader Adefola Amoo (Rtd)  |  Electrical/Electronics Engineering Graduate, Nigerian Defence Academy  |  April 11, 2026

The WhatsApp groups are on fire. Since President Tinubu commissioned the 60-megawatt Elebele Independent Power Plant on April 10, Bayelsans have been asking the same question:

“They commissioned the power plant. So where is the light?”

After 30 years of darkness and broken promises, that frustration is completely understandable. As an Electrical and Electronics Engineering graduate of the Nigerian Defence Academy, I have published this article to explain — simply and clearly — why the light is coming, and why it is closer than most people realise.

A power plant is not a light switch

Commissioning a plant does not instantly light up homes. Electricity travels a nine-stage journey from turbine to socket. The infographic below shows exactly where Bayelsa is on that journey.

Infographic 1 of 2 — The full power delivery journey
From idea to light in your home: Bayelsa Elebele Power Plant progress Nine stages of power plant delivery with cost, complexity and time indicators and cumulative progress bar. From idea to light in your home The full journey of the Elebele 60MW Independent Power Plant · April 2026 OVERALL PROJECT PROGRESS ~80% of project completion ~18% left S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 Completed Active / ongoing Remaining COST COMPLEXITY TIME Gov. Diri Stages 1–6 — Governor Diri’s delivery ✓ Stage 1 — Policy decision & feasibility Assess need, options and viability 3% Low 5% +3% → 3% ✓ Stage 2 — Finance, legal & procurement Secure funding, structure deals, procure 5% Med-high 8% +5% → 8% ✓ Stage 3 — Civil & site engineering Site prep, foundations, infrastructure 10% Medium 10% +10% → 18% ✓ Stage 4 — Equipment manufacturing & import Turbines, generators, components 25% High 12% +25% → 43% ✓ Stage 5 — Plant installation & engineering THE HEAVIEST LIFT Install, assemble, integrate systems 30% Very high 20% +30% → 73% NOW Stage 6 — Commissioning & synchronisation COMMISSIONED 10 APRIL 2026 Plant formally commissioned by President Tinubu 7% Very high 8% +7% → 80% unlocked — Ongoing: work already started on what comes next — Gov. Diri Delivers Stages 7–8 Pres. Tinubu — Policy enablement Electricity Act 2023 7 Stage 7 — Transmission & grid connection CABLES BEING LAID NOW Link plant to the national grid 8% Med-high 15% +8% when complete 8 Stage 8 — Distribution network & metering TEST POWER REACHING SOME HOMES Deliver power to communities, install meters 10% Medium 17% +10% when complete ⌂ Stage 9 — Full power-on: every home & business energised Complete rollout and full operation 2% 5% ~80% of project completion reached. Integration in progress. Line work underway. Test power reaching homes. The light is coming — closer than you think. Sources: Bayelsa State Government · This Day · Vanguard · The Nation · April 2026

Stages 1 through 6 — from the policy decision all the way through to the commissioning ceremony — are complete. These six stages represent approximately 80% of the total project completion and include the two most complex and expensive phases of the entire process. Governor Diri and his team delivered all of it. That is a historic achievement.

Stages 7 and 8 are now actively underway. Some line work and integration is ongoing ahead of metering rollout, and some homes are already on test supply. That final rollout is a matter of weeks. Only Stage 9 — full statewide power-on — remains. The hard part is behind Bayelsa.

Why President Tinubu is included in the credit for Stages 7 and 8

Some readers will ask: Governor Diri is delivering Stages 7 and 8 — so why does this article also credit President Tinubu?

Because without President Tinubu’s policy reforms, the electricity produced at Elebele would have had no highway to travel on to reach Bayelsa homes. Under the old 2005 law, a state-owned power plant had no legal right to connect to the national grid or use existing distribution networks. That wall is now gone. The second infographic explains exactly how.

Infographic 2 of 2 — The legal highway that carries Bayelsa’s power home
Two leaders, one achievement — the legal framework behind Bayelsa’s power Three legal instruments and shared credit between President Tinubu and Governor Diri. Two leaders, one achievement Legal reforms that allow Elebele’s power to reach Bayelsa homes fast Before 2023 — states had no constitutional right to do what Bayelsa is doing Electricity sat on the Federal Exclusive List. No state could legislate on, or plug into, the national grid. Pres. Buhari 17 March 2023 Fifth Alteration to the Constitution Electricity moved from the Federal Exclusive List to the Concurrent Legislative List. States gained the right to legislate alongside the Federal Government. Pres. Tinubu 9 June 2023 Day 10 of President Tinubu’s presidency Electricity Act 2023 — the centrepiece reform Repealed the 2005 law. Section 66 mandates open, non-discriminatory access to the national grid — Elebele uses existing infrastructure, saving Bayelsa years and billions. States can now fully license, regulate and distribute electricity independently. Pres. Tinubu 25 August 2025 NERC Transfer Order — Bayelsa gets its own regulator (BYERA) Bayelsa becomes the 15th state to control its own electricity market under the Electricity Act. PHED directed to create PHED SubCo — a Bayelsa-only subsidiary — by February 2026. The result — three leaders, one achievement Gov. Diri Gov. Diri Built the 60MW plant. First independent power in Bayelsa’s 30-yr history. The plant. The delivery. Pres. Buhari Pres. Buhari Fifth Alteration 2023. Moved electricity to the Concurrent Legislative List. The constitutional opening. Pres. Tinubu Pres. Tinubu Electricity Act 2023. Open grid access — plant uses existing infra. The road. The reform. Gov. Diri Pres. Buhari Pres. Tinubu Diri built the engine. Tinubu built the road. Buhari laid the constitutional foundation that made it all possible. Together, bringing light to Bayelsa for the first time in a generation. Sources: Electricity Act 2023 · NERC Order 25 Aug 2025 · ICIR · Nairametrics · Channels TV · April 2026

Three instruments made this possible. The Fifth Alteration to the Constitution (March 2023) — signed by President Buhari in the last days of his presidency — moved electricity from the Federal Exclusive List to the Concurrent Legislative List, giving states the constitutional right to legislate on power alongside the Federal Government. However, it still conflicted with the then-existing Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005, leaving states without a clear operational path. The Electricity Act 2023 — signed by President Tinubu on Day 10 of his presidency — resolved that conflict by repealing the 2005 law entirely and mandating open access to the national grid, meaning the Elebele plant can use existing infrastructure instead of building its own from scratch, saving Bayelsa years and billions. Finally, the NERC Transfer Order of August 2025 handed full electricity market regulation to Bayelsa’s own agency, BYERA, and — critically — directed PHED to create a dedicated Bayelsa distribution subsidiary. As NERC’s order stated directly: “Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc (PHED) is to incorporate a subsidiary (PHED SubCo) to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Bayelsa State from PHED.” That framework was legally in place before the plant was even commissioned.

Governor Diri built the engine. President Tinubu built the road the electricity travels on. Neither achievement stands without the other.

What happens next

Some line work and integration is ongoing ahead of the metering rollout across Bayelsa communities. The pay-as-you-go metering system Governor Diri has committed to will ensure fair, accurate billing when full supply arrives. This is a matter of weeks.

This is not another promise. This is engineering in its final stages.

The honest engineering assessment: Bayelsans should expect a real, progressive improvement in power supply over the coming weeks. The legal framework is in place. The regulatory structure is in place. The plant is running. Integration is underway. Some homes already have test supply.

The infographics tell a story of credible achievement by Governor Diri and the reforms of President Tinubu. Bayelsa is not at the beginning of this road. Bayelsa is not even in the middle.

Bayelsa is in the final stretch. The light is not a promise this time. It is an engineering project — and it is nearly complete.

The author holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Sources: The Nation · Vanguard · This Day · NERC · ICIR · Nairametrics · Channels TV · UNDP Nigeria · Electricity Act 2023 · April 2026

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