The Federal Government has assured that electricity will be restored to northern part of the country within the next three days.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made this promise while responding to questions from the Senate committee on power in Abuja, on Tuesday.
“Power will be restored to the North in two to three days. We will use the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line for temporary purposes,” Adelabu said.
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He explained that efforts are underway to access the damaged grid with the assistance of security agencies.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported an outage in the North-East, North-West, and parts of North-Central on October 22, after the 330-kilovolt Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2 tripped.
However, the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line supplying power to the North was vandalized by insurgents.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had directed the military to provide security for workers repairing the power lines.
Brief summary in layman terms
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Adelabu further declared that attacks on power transmission towers, especially in the northern parts of the country, are acts of terrorism.
“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,” Adelabu assured.
The Government, he noted, is working to restore power supply to the north through the eastern corridor, which will make at least 400 megawatts of power available by the weekend.
“So, I can assure you that before the end of this week, light will be restored to the north. We are exploring alternative routes, we are hoping that in a matter of days, light will be restored to the north.
“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,” Adelabu added.
