Stakeholders in Nigeria’s electricity sector have called for the establishment of special courts to ensure the speedy prosecution of persons involved in electricity theft and vandalism of power infrastructure.

The call was contained in a communiqué issued after a stakeholders’ parliamentary roundtable held in Lagos State, organised by the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Probe of Power Sector Reform and Expenditure in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

The communiqué, signed by the committee chairman, Rep. Ibrahim Almustapha (APC, Sokoto), and the committee clerk, Dr Abubakar Muri, also recommended wide-ranging reforms aimed at reducing system losses, improving regulatory efficiency, and strengthening accountability across the power sector.

According to the stakeholders, persistent energy losses in the sector are driven by both technical inefficiencies and deliberate acts of vandalism and electricity theft, which they said require stronger legal deterrence.

They therefore urged the Federal Government to amend the Electricity Act to create special courts dedicated to handling such cases in order to ensure faster and more effective prosecution.

“There is need to re-visit the Electricity Act to provide special court to punish vandals and energy theft, and also drone technology should be used to monitor the lines,” the communiqué stated.

The stakeholders also called for electricity infrastructure to be designated as national assets under the law, stressing that tampering with such facilities should attract criminal sanctions rather than civil liability.

They urged reforms in key institutions in the sector, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), to enhance efficiency and grid stability.

Among other recommendations, they proposed liberalisation of the metering framework, stronger debt recovery mechanisms from government agencies, and improved coordination between federal and state electricity regulators.

The stakeholders also canvassed deeper private sector participation in transmission infrastructure, suggesting that generation and distribution companies could hold equity stakes in a privatised Transmission Company of Nigeria.

They further called for cost-reflective but socially sensitive electricity tariffs following the removal of subsidy, as well as stronger enforcement of licence conditions for distribution companies.

On infrastructure protection, the stakeholders stressed the need for collaboration among security agencies, government institutions, and host communities to curb vandalism and sabotage of transmission lines, which they said contribute to frequent grid collapses.

In his remarks, the committee chairman, Rep. Almustapha, said the House of Representatives remains committed to reviewing existing laws in the power sector to remove inconsistencies, strengthen regulation, and promote investment.

He added that the legislature would continue to pursue reforms aimed at improving service delivery, protecting consumers, and expanding access to electricity through renewable and off-grid solutions.