The Federal Government said it is perfecting the process for the establishment of an electricity offences tribunal with an inbuilt appeal system to speedily tackle power-related offences.
In a statement on Thursday, the FG also announced that it has distributed a total of 2,655,488 meters in the power sector, tested and calibrated, for use by consumers across the country.
The last update of June 2, 2024 on metering by the Federal Government affirmed that 609,585 electricity consumers were metered in 2023, with the number of unmetered registered power users nationwide stood at 7,319,846.
The report stated that data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission indicated that out of the 13,162,572 registered consumers who get supply from the national grid, 5,842,726 have been metered.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Managing Director, Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency,MEMSA, Aliyu Tahir, stated that over 2.6 million meters in line with the mandate of the agency, have tested and calibrate, in line with the mandate of the agency.
He also disclosed that the agency is still testing and calibrating more meters to ensure their functionality, durability and safety when in use.
In his words: “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.
“About 4,921 factories, hazardous installations and public places have been inspected, tested and certified fit, while 2,655,488 electricity meters have been tested and calibrated, as 487 incidences were investigated by the agency.
“We are 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.
“We are looking at the establishment of this electricity tribunal to be able to enforce our mandates more. When you look at the enforcement, concerning 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.”
The NEMSA boss jusitifed that with the tribunal, issues of electricity theft would be addressed speedily and violators would be prosecuted as quickly as possible, adding that the agency was interfacing with the National Assembly on this.
He said, “The establishment of this tribunal has been brought to the knowledge of the legislature and we’ve made submissions to them. We hope that they will amend the Electricity Act to include a provision for this.”.
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