Following the presidential directive on the current blackout in the northern part of Nigeria, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the challenge will be temporarily fixed, and consequently, power will be restored within the next 72 days.
Adelabu disclosed this Tuesday while responding to questions from senators at the National Assembly, on the power outage affecting the region and the recurring grid collapses across the country.
On October 22, the Transmission Company of Nigeria(TCN) reported an outage in the North-East, North-West, and parts of North-Central Nigeria after the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2 tripped.
According to the Executive Director of the Independent System Operator, Nafisatu Ali, the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line supplying power to the North was vandalised by insurgents.
In his response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Monday, directed the military to provide security for a team of engineers fixing the faulty line.
…Adelabu assures
And appearing before the lawmakers, Mr. Adelabu said as a temporary measure, power would be supplied through the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line, which could cover approximately 80% of affected states.
“Power will be restored to the North in two to three days. We will use the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line for temporary purpose,” he said.
He said efforts were underway to access the damaged grid with the assistance of security agencies.
“Once fully accessible, the damaged lines will be repaired, allowing for a complete restoration of power to the affected areas. We are working with security agencies to access the grid currently occupied by vandals.
“I assure you that within the next 14 days, the repairs will be completed, and power will be fully restored to the North.” he stressed.
…TCN media parley
Also speaking at the TCN-organised media parley Tuesday in Abuja, the minister called for an enactment of a legislation to make vandalisation of electricity transmission installations a capital offence.
“There must be stiffer penalties. There has to be stiffer penalties, you said capital punishment, yes, maybe. It may not just be one month, two months or such fines. Those are too petty,” he said.
He similarly advocated the ban on sale of scraps (metals) in the country, saying the availability of willing buyers was a major reason that encouraged vandalisation of electricity assets.
While describing the vandalisation of electrical assets as an act of terrorism, he said criminalising the act will greatly reduce the attack on power infrastructure.
Also giving a similar assurance at the parley, the TCN said the wave of insecurity was slowing down restoration work on the Apir-Ugaji line.
Managing Director TCN Engr. Abdulaziz Sule said the team of engineers fixing the fault, under full security cover, was always leaving the site at about 6.00pm.
He said: “When the Shororo-Mando line is out, the other gateway used to feed the northern part of the country is using Ugwaji-Apir line. But unfortunately, that line was also vandalized. We have line one and line two. There is a video we posted on social media and you will see how those cables were cut.”