In a significant move to combat electricity theft and expedite the prosecution of electricity-related offenses, the Federal Government announced on Thursday that it is working on establishing an electricity offense tribunal.
This initiative was disclosed by Aliyu Tahir, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), during a press briefing in Abuja.
“We are working on the establishment of an electricity offense tribunal with an in-built appeal system for faster dispensation of electricity-related offenses,” Tahir said. “It is to vest NEMSA in-house counsel with powers to prosecute electricity offenses,” he added.
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Tahir explained that the initiative is aimed at adequately checking electricity theft and speeding up the prosecution process.
The National Assembly has been informed about this development. “We are looking at the establishment of this electricity tribunal to be able to enforce our mandates more effectively. The current enforcement process is very lengthy,” he noted.
The NEMSA boss emphasized that the tribunal would significantly improve the efficiency of prosecuting offenders and enforcing sanctions. “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 carry out enforcements and sanction violators promptly,” Tahir stated.
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NEMSA, an agency of the Federal Government established in 2015, has been working hard to establish this tribunal under the powers conferred by the Electricity Act.
Tahir mentioned that the agency has been interfacing with the National Assembly to amend the Act to include provisions for the tribunal. “The establishment of this tribunal has been brought to the knowledge of the legislature, and we’ve made submissions to them,” he said.
In addition to this announcement, Tahir provided updates on NEMSA’s activities, including the testing and calibration of 2,655,488 meters in the power sector.
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He highlighted that most of this equipment had been deployed for consumer use across the country. According to a report by The Punch on June 2, 2024, the latest update on metering by the Federal Government showed that 609,585 electricity consumers were metered in 2023. However, the number of unmetered registered power users nationwide still stood at 7,319,846.
Tahir stated that NEMSA has tested and calibrated over 2.6 million meters as part of its mandate. “A total of 21,681 electricity installation projects have been inspected and tested, out of which 13,154 have been certified. Also, a total of 16,624 electricity networks have been monitored by NEMSA,” he reported.
He added that the agency inspected, tested, and certified 4,921 factories, hazardous installations, and public places while investigating 487 incidents.
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The figures, compiled by NEMSA as of the first quarter of 2024, underscore the agency’s enhanced enforcement powers and responsibilities under the Electricity Act 2023.