Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has announced that electricity will be restored in the affected northern states in the next few days.
He made this known while speaking at a press briefing organized by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
According to Adelabu “We are exploring alternative routes, we are hoping that in a matter of days, light will be restored to the north.”
The Minister further stressed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration would continue to work on the vandalized lines of the transmission.
“We will still continue to work on the vandalized lines. This must have actually affected a number of parts, not just lines. Amongst the first parts, we know that a lot of single work needs to be carried out before the direct power can show that they are standing properly before the streaming of the light to the south. So, in a matter of two or three days, more than 70 to 80 percent of the northern part, which is affected, will have light. That is the assurance that we give you
“This is not the first time we will be having issues in that line. We’ve had vandalism there before but nobody noticed it because we fixed it within days. But this time it was more severe and the repairs were delayed because of security threats.”
He noted that the vandalization of transmission equipment in the North is not strange.
“We are only appealing to our brothers to help us protect these types of equipment because the resources that could have been used for other projects are being channeled into repairing the vandalized infrastructure.”
Bill On Energy Theft Vandalism
Adelabu, stated that there is a bill before the National Assembly for capital punishment for perpetrators of vandalism in the country.
“We want stiffer punishment for these criminals. Also, we need to look at stopping the sale of scrap metals in the country. They are those who encourage vandalism because they buy these things from criminals cheaply.”
The Minister also said that the ministry is working with the Nigerian Security agencies to provide sufficient security measures for personnel, Engineers on site and all transmission lines across the country especially those in the northern region.
Speaking earlier on efforts put in place to restore power supply to the Northern region of the country, the TCN’s Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, has reiterated the commission’s effort to restore power supply this week to northern residents as it is currently working on an alternative route through Enugu which is faster than construction and mounting of new towers in place of the vandalized ones along Shiroro – Kaduna route.
He explained that work is ongoing along the Shiroro -Kaduna route as the office of the National Security Adviser to the President, on community Engagement, Nuhu Ribadu, has provided security support to TCN’s Engineers on site.
Abdulaziz recalled that the major causes of the non-supply of electricity to the Northern zones include the vandalisation of four towers along Shiroro -Mando 330Kv line which was difficult to discover until Nigeria Air Force, Kaduna provided unmanned aerial surveillance on 17th October 2024 and the impacted towers were identified size
“In another related development, vandalism of Ugwuaji -Apir 330kV lines was reported on 21st October 2024 causing tripping of the lines. Trial reclosure failed and patrol revealed damaged conductors due to vandalism.
“This compounded the transmission of bulk power to the Northern corridor as these lines serve as link between Northern and Southern area. This outage severely affected the wheeling capacity of TCN,” he said.
The TCN’s Managing Director further said the affected areas have been secured with the help of the Nigerian Army and concerted efforts were ongoing on one of the lines for restoration.
“Restoration of one of these lines will allow TCN to wheel about 400MW of power in that corridor. Also, TCN is intensifying efforts to repair and restore the second line on Ugwuaji-Apir on or by Sunday 3rd November 2024. This will avail TCN to wheel a substantial quantum of power through Apir to Jos to Kaduna to Kano.”
On replacement of obsolete transmission infrastructure, he said the TCN is replacing them one after the other, adding that it cannot be done at once but based on the availability of funds.
The TCN Managing Director pleaded for patience by the affected Northern zones, saying that it was not a deliberate act to keep anyone out of power supply.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement in the North region, Abdullahi Yakassai -Tanko calls for Northern residents to give the transmission Company of Nigeria more time as it is making efforts to ensure that power is restored soon and transmitted to every part of the country.
“We know TCN is working very hard, working day and night so that power is restored. I want to appeal to Nigerians, pls give TCN a chance because this is not a deliberate effort, is not aimed at hurting the people of the northern region of the country
“Mr president is so worried about this situation and is on top of the situation together with the minister as well as TCN management and we believe in the next 5 days power will be restored across the northern State.”
PIAK
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