To tackle power theft nationwide, the Federal Government on Thursday said that it is in the process of establishing an electricity offences tribunal.
“We are working on the establishment of an electricity offences tribunal with an in-built appeal system for faster dispensation of electricity-related offences,” stated Aliyu Tahir, Managing Director of the Nigerian Energy Management Services Agency, during a press briefing in Abuja. It’s to provide NEMSA’s in-house attorney with the ability to pursue violations involving electricity,” he said.
Tahir gave more details on the tribunal, stating that the National Assembly had been notified and that the programme would effectively prevent energy theft when it was put into action.
The head of NEMSA said:
“We are looking at the establishment of this electricity tribunal to be able to enforce our mandates more. When you look at the enforcement, to 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.”
According to Tahir, NEMSA has been putting a lot of effort into setting up a tribunal that will hear cases involving electricity quickly, using the authority granted to the organisation under the Electricity Act.
He said that the agency was liaising with the National Assembly on this and that problems about energy theft would be promptly resolved with the tribunal, with offenders facing the swiftest possible prosecution.
“The establishment of this tribunal has been brought to the knowledge of the legislature and we’ve made submissions to them. Our hope is that they will amend the Electricity Act to include a provision for this,” Tahir added.
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cc: Punch Ng
