The Minister
of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has called on the Federal
Government to extend its ‘whistleblowing’ policy to the power sector to curb
energy theft.
Fashola made
the appeal in Enugu at the 16th Power sector monthly meeting, sponsored by the
Niger Delta Power Holding Company.
He said that
available statistics revealed huge energy theft by Nigerians, adding that the
problem had become a big challenge for not just the power distribution
companies, but consumers as well.
According to
him, if nothing is done, those who pay for energy consumption will continue to
bear the overall cost.
The minister
said that statistics revealed that only six million households consumed energy
in the country, adding “if this is correct, it means that some people steal energy
in the country, while only a few pay.
“The
statistics cannot be correct and it is therefore necessary to extend
whistleblowing to the power sector in order to expose those stealing our
energy,” he said.
Fashola said
that when all households who used energy were not captured, the ones captured
were bound to pay more tariffs.
He called on
Nigerians to be vigilant and report those who stole energy in their
neighbourhood to law enforcement agencies.
He said that
government was not pleased with most power distribution companies, whom he
said, were far from attaining the mandate given to them since the privatisation
of the sector.
The minister
direct the distribution companies to call their staff to order, saying “they
are giving their customers hard times through indiscriminate disconnections.
He said that
efforts to improve power supply across the country were on course, adding that
more megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid before the
end of the year.
The News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting ended with a communiqué urging
members of the public to discharge their responsibilities of paying for energy
costs.
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