NERC to Deploy Advanced Tech, EFCC Partnership to Tackle Electricity Theft

Electricity consumers bypassing meters or engaging in illegal connections are facing tougher days ahead as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) unveils plans to deploy cutting-edge technology against offenders.

NERC Chairman, Abdullahi Ramat, who is awaiting Senate confirmation, revealed on his official X handle that the commission will introduce digital tools to curb electricity theft, a practice that has drained the power sector of billions of naira.

Whistleblowing app and real-time monitoring

Ramat disclosed that a mobile app, available on Android and iOS, will integrate the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of distribution companies (DISCOs) and the Nigerian System Operator (NISO). This would give NERC real-time visibility of payment channels and grid operations.

The regulator also plans to introduce a whistleblowing tool, modelled after the LURA app pioneered at the local government level, to empower citizens to anonymously report electricity theft, meter bypass, and illegal connections.

EFCC collaboration and legal enforcement

According to Ramat, NERC will partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to enforce arrests, name-and-shame campaigns, and prosecutions under Section 208 of the Electricity Act 2023, which prescribes penalties of up to three years in prison for offenders.

“We will borrow a leaf from the successful naira mutilation campaign to ensure offenders are prosecuted. Honest customers must not keep paying for the crimes of electricity thieves,” he said.

Sector inefficiency and investor flight

Nigeria’s power sector currently loses nearly 50% of generated electricity, leaving actual efficiency at barely half capacity. Ramat said this has discouraged investors and triggered a liquidity crisis, despite two decades of reform and 12 years of privatisation.

He stressed that unlike the telecoms sector, which has thrived under competition and investment, the power sector’s mixed ownership structure and fragmented digitisation continue to stall progress.

Call for digital transformation

Ramat argued that NERC, as the apex regulator, must lead a drive for full digitisation across the electricity value chain, integrating payments, monitoring, and transparency to stabilise the grid and reduce losses such as Transmission Loss Factor (TLF) and Aggregate Technical, Commercial & Collection (ATC&C) losses.

He warned that while advanced economies are deploying blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, many African governments remain stuck on outdated systems. Without urgent reforms, he cautioned, Nigeria risks entering a “digital Wild West” where governments lose the ability to tax, regulate, or protect sovereignty.

“For Nigeria to thrive globally, automation and e-governance must move from aspiration to action,” Ramat concluded.