Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has called on the National Assembly to introduce stricter legislative measures to address rising cases of electricity infrastructure vandalism and energy theft, warning that current penalties are inadequate to deter offenders.
Speaking at a policy retreat hosted by the Senate Committee on Power, Adelabu stated that the country’s transmission network and installed equipment remain highly vulnerable due to weak legal protections.
He urged lawmakers to reclassify acts of sabotage, including illegal power connections and tampering with meters, as criminal offences punishable under law.
“The stability we see on the national grid today is the result of deliberate planning and significant investment. It cannot be sustained if the same assets are being vandalised and stolen,” Adelabu said.
According to the Minister, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has made progress in boosting grid capacity, citing the installation of 61 transformers in 2024 alone and 13 more commissioned in the first quarter of 2025. These include high-capacity units ranging from 10MW to 300MW, deployed to improve power transmission efficiency nationwide.
He emphasized that these efforts risk being undermined by persistent sabotage, which leads to outages, high losses, and delayed service delivery.
Adelabu described the destruction of transmission towers, bypassing of meters, and illegal power connections as systemic issues affecting the sector’s financial health.
He noted that these actions devalue public investments and erode progress made under the ongoing reforms.
In his remarks, the Minister called for direct legislative action to include more severe sanctions for energy-related crimes and proposed public enlightenment campaigns to reinforce the importance of protecting national infrastructure.
Beyond legal reforms, Adelabu requested that the National Assembly consider direct budgetary support for TCN, which currently relies solely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He warned that the company’s ability to sustain operations, conduct maintenance, and execute expansion projects is limited under the current funding model.
“The transmission segment is a critical pillar of the power sector. Leaving it underfunded risks reversing all recent improvements. Government intervention through appropriated funding is necessary,” he stated.
Despite a reported 70 percent increase in liquidity following tariff adjustments, Adelabu noted that the power sector continues to record a monthly deficit of over N200 billion.
He said the revenue improvement from N1 trillion in 2023 to N1.7 trillion in 2024 has not translated to financial stability across the value chain, primarily due to inefficiencies within the distribution segment.
He warned that without significant investments in distribution infrastructure and a clampdown on energy theft, sector-wide reforms will remain unsustainable.
Stakeholders at the retreat agreed on the need for legal, operational, and regulatory coordination to strengthen asset protection and financial recovery in the power sector.
The National Assembly is expected to review the legislative framework in line with recommendations from the session.
