PROFILE: Joseph Tegbe, Ex-KPMG Chief Who Lost Governorship and Senate Bids, Tapped as Power Minister

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Joseph Tegbe as minister of power, pending Senate confirmation.

Tegbe’s selection follows the resignation of Adebayo Adelabu, who stepped down from the cabinet to contest for governorship in Oyo State after two failed attempts before his appointment as power minister in 2023.

The presidency described Tegbe’s nomination as a strategic move designed to “strengthen further ongoing efforts to reform the power sector, enhance grid stability, and attract sustainable investment in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

From boardroom to politics 

Tegbe is best known in professional circles as a former senior partner at KPMG, where he served as Senior Partner and Head of Advisory Services, among others, and built a career spanning more than three decades across public and private sector consulting, institutional reforms, strategy and project delivery.

But Tegbe’s public profile rose sharply in politics. In 2018, he was an aspirant during the build-up to the Oyo governorship election but he later stepped down after the All Progressives Congress (APC) settled for Adelabu as its candidate.

After the 2019 election cycle, he left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), citing internal disputes in Oyo APC and alleging that a minority faction — backed by “some powers at the top” — was allowed to hijack party structures.

In an April 2022 statement explaining his defection, Tegbe said he had remained a “team player” after stepping down in 2018 but became disillusioned by what he described as altered congress outcomes and failed appeals to the party’s national leadership. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” he said.

Under the PDP, he contested the Oyo South senatorial seat in 2023 but lost to the APC candidate, Sarafadeen Alli.

Tinubu appointments 

Despite his electoral defeats, Tegbe has been steadily drawn into the Tinubu administration’s policy architecture.

In September 2024, Tinubu appointed him director-general and global liaison for the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership announced during his visit that month. The role, according to the appointment notice, required him to report directly to the president.

In November 2025, the Presidency also announced the creation of the National Tax Policy Implementation Committee to drive implementation of the administration’s tax reforms. Tegbe was named chairman of the committee, tasked with ensuring delivery of reforms aligned with the government’s economic agenda.

Education and professional background

Tegbe is a first-class civil engineering graduate (1988) of Obafemi Awolowo University. He has worked across audit, tax, advisory and industry roles, including a stint as Head, Materials Accounting at Shell Petroleum Development Company (1991–1992, contract), and has led or supported major transformation and ERP engagements in Nigeria and Ghana.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.