Olayiwola Matthew
Mr Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, on Monday, said electricity would be restored to the 17 northern states that had suffered blackouts due to vandalisation of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line.
Adelabu said this while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
He said the disruption of electricity supply to the northern part of the country was due to the vandalisation of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, the major line that supplied electricity to the north.
He, however, said the transmission line would be repaired within three to five days.
“Mr President has instructed the National Security Adviser (NSA), the chief of defence staff, the chief of Army staff, Chief of Air Staff, to provide the required security for the people that will fix the demolished line.
“With the provision of full security, the TCN staff will have the confidence, together with the contractors, to go to the field and fix it.
“So, I’m just appealing to our northern brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, to bear with us that very soon, light will be restored, and we must all collectively protect our national grid to avoid further vandalisation,” said the minister.
He added that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had earlier approved the Ministry of power to upgrade the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, one of the oldest transmission lines in Nigeria.
He said once the upgrade was done, the north would enjoy more stable electricity than what was being experienced now.
He promised to convene a meeting with the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and all the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to ensure that customers in the north were not billed during the period they suffered blackout.
Adelabu explained that the national grid collapsed twice in recent times due to the explosion of the transformer at the Jeba plant.
He said before the explosion, the last disturbance on the grid was about four months ago.
“Let me tell you the truth of the matter is we have old infrastructure. We have a national grid that is more than 50 years old.
“We have a national grid whose transmission lines are weak, the towers are falling, and the substations, the transformers are old.
“In fact, the transformer that exploded in Jeba was 47 years old. We’ve been trying to revamp this, to change them, but they cannot all be changed overnight,” he said.
He said the ministry would continue to manage the grid to prevent frequent disturbances until it was completely overhauled.