- The FG plans to establish an electricity offence tribunal
- The tribunal will hasten the process of punishing offenders
- Nigerians voiced their concerns regarding this matter on social media
This was made known on Thursday, June 20, via a press conference.
The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency's Managing Director, Aliyu Tahir, stated during the press conference in Abuja that the organisation is "working on the establishment of an electricity offences tribunal with an in-built appeal system for faster dispensation of electricity-related offences." It is to vest NEMSA in-house counsel with powers to prosecute electricity offences,”
Tribunal will hasten process of punishing offenders
He further said, “We are looking at the establishment of this electricity tribunal to be able to enforce our mandates more. When you look at the enforcement, with respect to sanctioning of violators in the Act, it is a very long process.
“So to fast-track the prosecution of offenders, the establishment of this tribunal solely for the power sector will go a long way in ensuring that we fast-track the process, carry out enforcements and sanction violators.”
Recall that the Electricity Act 2023 (EA) has increased the penalties for Nigerians who steal electricity, connect electricity illegally, tamper with meters, or destroy facilities owned by value chain businesses.
Nigerians React
The creation of an electricity offence tribunal has drawn reactions from Nigerians who think that electricity works would not be left out in the criminal hunt.
“The funniest part of this is that most of those theft are carried out by their staffs.. Will a Carpenter leave his wood and start climbing electric pole or enter transformer to steal a cable?” Nwafresh tweeted.
“This will help greatly,” Mahmud Waziri also mentioned on Twitter.
“The solution is in the creation of a robust economy, redistribution of wealth and social justice. Nigerians will willingly pay for efficient and effective services with ease. Nigerians are good people but the system has shut the doors of goodness against them”, Ogodo73 PhD expressed on X.
“Electricity theft? Darkness theft will be easier to judge. Where is the power to be stolen? D should address real challenges. Theft, yes an issue but can't be priority when most are in darkness,” Odu Obodumu added on X.
“What about the cabals behind the power Sector who are experts in sabotaging the system?” Jikan Waziri asked on X.
Ghana may suffer electricity blackout as Nigeria stops its supply of gas
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) announced a 21-day power outage due to gas supply shortages in Nigeria.
Nigeria had communicated that the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo), which runs the 678-kilometre gas pipeline from the country, needed maintenance.