Nigeria: Power Minister Seeks EFCC Help To Tackle Vandalism, Energy Theft

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has sought the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to help tackle the growing problem of vandalism and energy theft in the power sector.

Tegbe made the request on Tuesday when he led a delegation from the ministry on a courtesy visit to the EFCC’s headquarters in Abuja.

Vandalism and energy theft are taking a heavy toll on the power sector and resulting in the loss of billions of naira annually, Tegbe said.

He said the ministry lacked the statutory powers to prosecute offenders involved in vandalism and energy theft, making collaboration with the EFCC necessary to address the problem.

“We sought the EFCC’s immediate support in prosecuting power infrastructure vandalism and persistent energy theft offenders, including the recovery of outstanding revenue,” Tegbe said in a post on Facebook.

The meeting also discussed the possible use of some recovered funds from relevant contractor cases to address metering needs for the military, subject to the necessary approvals and processes, he said.

Tegbe said the two sides had agreed to establish an EFCC-Ministry of Power Technical Working Group, alongside stronger fraud controls and monitoring of power-sector projects.

He also thanked the EFCC for its continued support, including its intervention in resolving contractor-related issues concerning the Kudenda Power Plant in Kaduna State.

EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede described vandalism and energy theft as forms of revenue fraud and economic sabotage.

He said the commission had recorded more than 1 trillion naira in cash recoveries, more than 10,000 convictions and the recovery of more than 10,000 non-cash assets over the past 34 months.

Olukoyede pledged to work with the ministry to conduct fraud-risk assessments and strengthen controls on all its projects.