Senate Passes Electricity Act Amendment Bill to Address Sector Collapse

The Senate has adopted the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, on second reading in an effort to save the country’s beleaguered power sector from collapse.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South) sponsored the proposal, which attempts to revise the 2023 Electricity Act by addressing regulatory deficiencies, while some lawmakers demand capital punishment for vandals.

Senator Abaribe, chair of the Senate Committee on Power, warned that the country’s electricity industry is struggling due to inefficiencies and financial mismanagement. The federal government is currently in debt for over ₦4 trillion in the power sector.

He stated that the current law has minimal consequences for offenders, has not been completely operationalised, and lacks clarity on key regulatory elements, particularly those concerning funding, labour rights in critical services, and the role of state governments following recent constitutional revisions.

“Electricity serves as a crucial service.” Nobody should use a strike to extort the country. He remarked, “We must remove ambiguities and make the law implementable.”

Abaribe also criticised the refusal of several electricity distribution businesses to pay for power supply, which exacerbated the sector’s volatility.

Senator Adamu Aliero, who supports the bill, voiced concern about the federal government’s continuous spending on the privatised power sector.

He attacked the government for continuing to bear the financial burden despite the privatisation of generating and distribution businesses (GenCos and DisCos) and advocated for capital punishment for national asset saboteurs.

“We privatised power, yet trillions of naira are still spent on behalf of private firms. More importantly, the growing threat of vandalism needs to be handled. “Vandals are sabotaging national assets and should face the death penalty if necessary,” Aliero stated.

The bill offers a variety of improvements, including:

• Making electrical infrastructure vandalism a crime.

• Clarifying the transition of regulatory authority from NERC to state governments.

• Improving the operation of the Electricity Consumer Assistance Fund.

• Tightening penalties and institutional control.

The amendment that scaled second reading has been forwarded to the committee on power, which will report back within six weeks.