Senate Advances Power Bill, Considers Death Penalty for Vandals

Wednesday July 09, 2025

By TheNewsDESK |
www.thenewsdesk.ng

Nigeria’s Senate has taken a bold step toward salvaging the country’s beleaguered electricity industry, passing the second reading of the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, FirstNEWS reported.

Sponsored by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), the bill aims to fix critical regulatory lapses and impose harsher penalties on saboteurs, including the controversial proposal of capital punishment for infrastructure vandals.

The debate, which sparked intense reactions within the chamber, centered on the deteriorating state of Nigeria’s power supply system—plagued by inefficiencies, mounting debt, and ongoing sabotage.

Senator Abaribe, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Power, painted a grim picture of the electricity sector, stating that the Federal Government owes over ₦4 trillion to power-related stakeholders.

He said the existing 2023 Electricity Act had failed to adequately address major issues, such as enforcement, funding structures, and labour regulation in essential services.

“The system is cracking under mismanagement. Our laws must be tightened to prevent collapse,” Abaribe warned. “Electricity is a public utility—no group should weaponize it through strike actions or sabotage.”

He lamented the refusal of some DisCos to pay for electricity delivered to them, describing the practice as a drain on the sector’s sustainability.

Senator Adamu Aliero lent his voice in support, decrying the ongoing financial burden of a supposedly privatized power sector. “We sold off our generation and distribution assets, yet the federal purse continues to foot the bill. This is unsustainable,” he said.

Aliero called for capital punishment for individuals who vandalize electricity infrastructure, saying such acts amount to economic sabotage. “These criminals are crippling national development. It’s time we made examples of them,” he added.

The Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 proposes several sweeping changes:

Criminalization of power infrastructure vandalism, with possible capital punishment;

Clear delineation of power between the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and state governments, in line with recent constitutional reforms;

Strengthened implementation of the Electricity Consumer Assistance Fund;

Reinforced penalties and stricter institutional oversight mechanisms.

The bill has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Power for further review and is expected to return for final consideration within six weeks.

As the power sector teeters on the brink, this legislative push signals a potential turning point in Nigeria’s long-running electricity crisis—though the debate over punitive measures, especially the death penalty, is likely to intensify in the weeks ahead.