Electricity theft: Nigerian Govt probes N120bn annual revenue loss

The Federal Government said it has launched a crackdown on massive energy theft along the 132-kilovolt Ikorodu–Sagamu industrial corridor, where unaccounted power losses have climbed to 100 megawatts, inflicting an estimated annual revenue loss of N120 billion on the electricity market.

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, announced the intervention on Friday during a high-level stakeholders meeting with industrial operators, key market participants.and energy regulators in Lagos.

Addressing the gathering, Tegbe issued a firm directive mandating a transparent, science-based investigation into the substantial discrepancies between the volume of electricity transmitted along the axis and the energy officially billed and accounted for by distribution companies.

The Ikorodu–Sagamu corridor has rapidly expanded into one of Nigeria’s primary industrial manufacturing hubs, serving major heavy consumers.

However, enhanced visibility from technological monitoring tools deployed by the Nigerian Independent System Operator, NISO, exposed troubling loading anomalies and severe commercial losses across the network.

Reaffirming the administration’s commitment to industrial growth under President Bola Tinubu, the minister assured manufacturers of sustained power supply while maintaining that uninterrupted energy supply must be matched with strict accountability and accurate billing.

Tegbe declared that the government would no longer tolerate meter tampering, deliberate data manipulation, or infrastructure interference, emphasising that every consumer must remain accountable for the actual power consumed.