Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has called on the National Assembly to enact tougher legislation to criminalise power infrastructure vandalism and electricity theft, warning that the current penalties are too weak to deter offenders.
Speaking during a two-day retreat organised by the Senate Committee on Power, Adelabu stressed that vandalism, power theft, illegal connections, and non-payment of electricity bills must be treated with urgency to safeguard national infrastructure and ensure sectoral progress.
He warned that recent improvements in grid stability and revenue growth could be lost if critical power infrastructure continues to face sabotage. “The level of stability on our grid today is not by accident but the result of hard work and heavy investment,” the minister said.
Adelabu revealed that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) installed 61 transformers in 2024 and an additional 13 in the first four months of 2025. These installations, ranging from 10 to 300 megawatts in capacity, represent investments running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
“These are what our people still go out to vandalise. Our towers are toppled by saboteurs and vandals. We have illegal connections and people tampering with meters,” he lamented.
The minister argued that vandalism should be treated not as a civil matter but a criminal offence, given the damage it causes to national development and infrastructure. He urged lawmakers to revise the legal framework to make penalties more stringent and serve as a deterrent.
He also appealed to Nigerians to be more vigilant, noting that power assets belong to the public and must be protected collectively.
Adelabu further urged lawmakers to provide budgetary support for TCN, which currently relies solely on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). He said the IGR is inadequate to meet the company’s growing operational, maintenance, and expansion demands.
Highlighting ongoing challenges in the power sector, the minister noted chronic underinvestment in distribution infrastructure as a major obstacle to reliable service delivery. He cited poor network performance, high losses, and inadequate metering in many Distribution Companies (DisCos), which have led to over-reliance on government subsidies.
Despite a 70 per cent increase in market liquidity following recent tariff adjustments, the sector still suffers from a monthly shortfall of N200 billion. While revenue rose from N1 trillion in 2023 to N1.7 trillion in 2024, Adelabu identified distribution as the weakest link in the electricity value chain.
