Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has called on the National Assembly to enact stricter legislation aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s power infrastructure from acts of vandalism.
He emphasised the need for enhanced legal measures saying such robust laws are critical to deterring the destruction of vital energy assets and ensuring the stability of the nation’s electricity supply.
Adelabu, who made the call at the weekend while speaking at a two-day retreat organised by the Senate Committee on Power, said vandalism should not be treated as a civil offence but a criminal issue adding that power theft, nonpayment of bills by consumers, illegal connections are critical factors that need to be tackled.
The minister, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, said in spite of the challenges, the grid has been stabilised as the country has not witnessed any grid collapse since the beginning of the year.
He said, “The level of stability on our grid today is not by accident but hard work and expenditure.
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“In 2024, TCN installed 61 new transformers by either replacing aged one or building new one.
“Also in 2025, within the first four months, TCN installed about 13 new transformers and there are high-capacity transformers ranging from 10 megawatts to 300 megawatts.
“Put together, they run into hundreds of million dollars to install, and these are what our people still go out to vandalize.
“Our towers are toppled by saboteurs and vandals, we have illegal connections, and people tampering with meters.”
He therefore called for appropriate legislation and public vigilance to protect national assets which he said belongs to every Nigerian adding that more stringent legislation is needed to tackle the menace.
Adelabu also made a case for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in appropriation adding that the Agency does not have enough money to fund its operations.
“They are short of funds, they operate solely on their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which has been nose diving over the years.
“What they get monthly cannot even pay their salary not to talk of maintaining ageing infrastructure, expanding transmission networks. There should be a way to accommodate TCN in appropriation.”
The minister also spoke on the persistent crisis threatening to derail progress in the sector which is chronic underinvestment in distribution infrastructure which continues to cripple service delivery nationwide in spite of landmark reforms in the electricity sector.
He revealed glaring disparities in distribution company (DisCo) performance, with aging networks, rampant electricity theft, and poor investment deepening reliance on unsustainable subsidies and leaving millions in darkness.
“We need to get tough with the DisCos, as they can easily frustrate all the gains we have made.
“They have disappointed us in performance expectations.
“Whatever we do in generation does not mean anything to consumers if it is frustrated at the distribution points,” he continued.
According to the minister, despite tariff adjustments that boosted market liquidity by 70 percent, raising sector revenue from N1 trillion in 2023 to N1.7 trillion in 2024, the distribution segment remains the weakest link.
“In the fourth quarter of 2024, DisCos in the North remitted just ₦124.4 billion (30 percent) of their ₦408.86 billion invoice, with Abuja DisCo accounting for 85 percent of Northern payments.
“Southern DisCos fared slightly better, remitting ₦254.6 billion (67 percent), though 70 percent of this came from Lagos DisCos alone.
“These discrepancies are due largely to crumbling infrastructure outside economic hubs, where underinvestment has left networks dilapidated.”
The minister highlighted plans to attract private investment into grid infrastructure and regionalise transmission networks to reduce failure risks noting that the 70 percent remittance by the two DisCos in Lagos reflects better infrastructure than what obtains in the northern networks just as he spoke of plans to boost power supply in the Northern part of the country.
“We are looking at developing Makurdi hydropower project which is about 1000 megawatts.
“We also want to revitalize Kaduna thermal plants which has been abandoned for the past five years, it is a 215 megawatts capacity plant and is presently at about 87 percent completion.
“Efforts are on presently to restore this power plant.
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