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Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose linked the lack of electricity in rural communities to early bedtimes and rising population growth Friday, speaking in Abuja after his inauguration as Chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency board.
In a video clip shared on Saturday, Fayose said the absence of electricity in rural areas limits recreational options after dark, leaving residents with little to do beyond staying home once the sun sets. “Why you don’t address this issue of electricity? The people at that level have no alternative attraction. Nothing else matters to them. After 7 o’clock, it gets dark there,” he said, adding that with no other outlet, “everybody is engaging their wives” and the population “simply becomes double.”
Fayose argued that extending electricity access to underserved communities would give residents more reasons to stay out later and pursue alternative forms of evening recreation. “People go to bed early. Their mind is simply prepared that, well, if this is the only available recreation, let me remain here. But when we address this electricity, there will be nightlife. There will be recreation outside your wife,” he said.
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The remarks came as Fayose formally assumed leadership of the REA governing board, the agency responsible for advancing the Federal Government’s efforts to expand electricity access to underserved and unserved communities across Nigeria. He was sworn in by Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe alongside other board appointees, including Ahmadu Abubakar and Ilyasu Makinta as board members and three additional non-executive directors. Abba Aliyu was formally installed as the agency’s Managing Director during the same ceremony.
Fayose served two terms as Ekiti State Governor, from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2014 to 2018, building a public profile marked by blunt, often controversial commentary that regularly drew national attention during and after his time in office. His appointment to chair the REA board places him in an oversight role over a federal agency central to Nigeria’s rural electrification strategy, which has in recent years leaned on a mix of grid extension, mini-grid deployment, and solar home systems to reach communities outside the national grid’s reach.
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The Rural Electrification Agency was established under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act to implement the Federal Government’s Rural Electrification Fund and coordinate electrification programs targeting communities that commercial distribution companies have historically found unprofitable to serve, given the lower revenue potential of sparsely populated or lower-income rural areas relative to urban grid extension. The agency has worked with development partners including the World Bank on initiatives such as the Nigeria Electrification Project, which has funded solar mini-grids and standalone solar systems for underserved communities and public institutions like schools and health centers.
Nigeria’s rural electrification challenge remains substantial: a large share of the country’s population, concentrated disproportionately in rural areas, lacks reliable access to grid electricity, a gap successive federal administrations have cited as a constraint on both economic development and quality of life in underserved regions. Fayose’s remarks did not address the REA’s specific policy priorities or targets under his chairmanship, nor did they touch on funding, project pipelines, or implementation timelines for expanding electricity access to the communities he referenced.
