Nigeria Electricity Industry Law In Print

Nigeria Electricity Industry Law is co-authored by Okechukwu Ebirim and Anthony Nwajiugo, two distinguished Nigerian legal practitioners with professional interest in electricity law and regulation.

The authors have in this work demonstrated extensive research and industry by attempting to cover all aspects of the subject from historical development of electricity in Nigeria to the current era of sector reforms and independent regulation whilst addressing salient legal and academic issues.

The book Nigerian Electricity Industry Law is divided into five sections. Section one, which is made up of two chapters, deals with the evolution of Nigerian electricity industry. Here, the authors introduce the subject by examining the entire industry.

They then provided an insight into the idea and definition of electricity law and make the point that regulations in the electricity industry have attained the status of a composite body of law governing all the components of the sector and deserving to be treated as a specialised subject apart from the general concept of Energy Law. Also, the establishment and objectives of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), as an independent regulator of the Nigerian electricity industry is discussed.

Section Two is one of the most important sections of the book. The authors deliberately devote this section to the issue of licensing and participation in the electricity industry due to its significance and relevance to the relationship and interface between all stakeholders in the industry – market participants, investors, regulators and consumers.

Section Three deals extensively with operational regulations in the Nigerian electricity industry. It provides a definition of Market Rules, citing relevant provisions of the Act to explain the mandatory requirement of compliance with the Market Rules applicable to a licensee. This section further discusses the Operating Procedures for the Grid Code and explains in details the three primary transition stages of Market Development.

Also in this section, the components and operations of Nigerian electricity transmission system (including the Grid Code, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)), Nigerian electricity distribution network (including the Distribution Code, the Independent Electricity Distribution Networks (IEDN), and embedded generators) are examined in separate chapters. The all-important aspect of Metering in the Nigerian electric power sector is also dealt with.

Section Four relates to the civil rights and obligations in the Nigerian electricity industry. A new subject, ‘Torts in Electricity Law’, is examined. Here the authors bring the subject home to the reader by analysing the basic relationship between torts and electricity law, and discuss the four torts of negligence, trespass, nuisance and vicarious liability as sub-topics.

In Chapter Ten, the book examines another important subject, ‘Labour matters in Nigerian Electricity Law’. Whilst stating that “like a paradigm shift, employment in Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry will now involve the private sector more than government unlike in the past”, the authors focus on the incidents of existing and new employment in the electric power sector with particular attention to contracts of employment in the sector, in relation to the Labour Act, Employees Compensation Act, 2010, Nigerian Electricity Health and Safety Standard Manual, trade unions and trade disputes in the Nigerian electricity sector.

The last section of the book deals with the issue of Consumer Protection in Nigerian Electricity Sector.