The Federal Ministry of Power has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to support investigations and prosecutions involving vandalism and electricity theft, which the ministry says cost the sector billions of naira each year.
Power Minister Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe made the request during a visit to EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede in Abuja.
Tegbe said attacks on transmission infrastructure, theft of public assets and deliberate non-payment for electricity were undermining investment and service delivery.
He said the ministry lacked direct prosecutorial powers and therefore needed closer collaboration with law-enforcement agencies.
The minister specifically highlighted vandalism of towers, manhole covers and other infrastructure, as well as companies that consume electricity without paying their bills.
He said both activities should be treated as economic crimes because of their effect on public revenue and electricity supply.
Tegbe also thanked the commission for intervening in a legal dispute that had delayed the 215MW Kudendan Power Plant project in Kaduna State.
Olukoyede described vandalism and energy theft as forms of revenue fraud and economic sabotage.
He pledged that the EFCC would work with the ministry and proposed introducing Fraud Risk Assessment and Control mechanisms into power-sector projects.
The commission also offered to establish a team to review selected projects, including abandoned and newly initiated schemes.
Olukoyede said preventive monitoring should become more prominent so that law-enforcement agencies did not wait until public funds had already been lost.
The proposed partnership would expand the EFCC’s role in safeguarding energy infrastructure and monitoring financial risks within the power sector.
