Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has said that lawmakers serve to sacrifice for future generations rather than to enrich themselves.
Akpabio disclosed this during Wednesday’s plenary, while contributing to a debate on the general principles of the bill for an Act to amend the Electricity Act, 2023.
The bill was sponsored by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe..
Akpabio said, “People think we are here in the Senate to make money, not knowing that we are here to sacrifice for future generations.”
He emphasised that everyone is anticipating a complete revamp of the electrical sector and stated that the country’s industrial growth would be impossible without electricity.
Suppose the bill is enacted, amended, and signed into law. In that case, it will, among other things, clarify the ongoing transitional measures for the Nigerian Power Regulatory Commission (NERC) to transfer intrastate power concerns to state governments.
Akpabio sent the bill to the Committee on Power for more legislative action after it passed second reading on the Senate floor. In six weeks, the committee is expected to report back to the plenary.
Earlier in his lead debate on the general principles of the bill, Senator Abaribe who disclosed that the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was read the first time on Wednesday 25 June 2025, said, “the primary objective of this Bill is to address critical issues that have emerged since the Implementation of the EA, 2023.
Specifically, the Bill seeks to introduce provisions that will enhance policy and regulatory coordination between national and sub national governments to avoid legal disputes and inconsistencies; Strengthen sectoral financing in the face of crippling sector debt crisis:
“Criminalise critical electricity infrastructure vandalism in the face of the rising wave of recurrent sabotage by vandals; foster industrial relations in the sector by balancing labour rights in the context of essential services as recognised by domestic and International best labour practices and Instruments.
“Clarify ongoing transitional provisions for the transfer of intrastate electricity matters from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to State Governments, especially matters having a bearing on the operation of the national grid system and other overlapping issues;
“Clarify the framework for the operationalisation of the Power Consumer Assistance Fund to address subsidies to vital social services and underprivileged consumers as a paradigm shift from the current subsidy arrangement that has left the government with huge trillions of Naira in deficit of subsidy payments.
“Re-define and make provision for a sector-wide framework to guide host community engagements by licensees operating in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NEST) across the power value chain; remove inherent ambiguities in a few provisions of the Principal Act to allow for darity, elegance and smooth implementation; and fortify existing institutional and legal frameworks of the NESI etc.”
