Adelabu apologises over northern Nigeria blackout, blames ‘weak’ grid infrastructure

Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, has apologised to Nigerians in the north over the protracted power outage they have experienced for days.

Speaking on Thursday during a courtesy visit to Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, Adelabu blamed the situation on the “weak, obsolete, dilapidated” infrastructure of the over 50-year-old national grid.

On October 21, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported a power outage across the northeast, northwest, and parts of north-central Nigeria after the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji–Apir double circuit transmission lines one and two tripped the previous day.

In a statement, Ndidi Mbah, the general manager of public affairs at the TCN, linked the incident to a “fault”.

On October 28, Adelabu said the damaged transmission line would soon be restored, assuring that customers who experience blackouts will not be billed by the distribution companies (DisCos).

Speaking on the issue during the visit, the minister described the situation as “very unfortunate” and said the federal government is making efforts to completely overhaul the infrastructure.

He said most of the towers installed long ago are falling due to weather and climate change, stressing that they require continuous maintenance.

“This grid requires a lot of money to maintain,” Adelabu said.

“So, what we have now, we will continue to manage it and prevent frequent disturbances until we are able to overhaul this infrastructure 100 per cent.”

Adelabu, enumerating programmes aimed at revamping the national grid’s structure, said the presidential power initiative (PPI), known as the Siemens project, is currently ongoing.

In addition, he said the TCN’s expansion programme, supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), is also afoot.

“The pilot phase of the Siemens project had just been concluded and it involved the importation of 10 power transformers as well as 10 power mobile sub-stations,” the minister said.

“Phase one of the Siemens project would soon commence, after which the grid performance would be better than what is being experienced presently.

“We have also installed and inaugurated all the mobile sub-stations where they were needed, and that was what contributed to the stability being witnessed.”

Adelabu urged Nigerians to protect the nation’s power infrastructure from vandals, as repairs are costly.

‘KANO TO ESTABLISH ELECTRICITY MARKET’

On his part, Yusuf, represented by Shehu Sagagi, his chief of staff, said the state government would soon establish an electricity market to attract private sector investment.

The governor said the 10 megawatts hydropower plant at Tiga and the six megawatts plant at Chalawa are near completion.

To improve power supply, Yusuf said Kano procured 500 transformers when his administration began, distributing them to enhance electricity distribution.

The governor called on President Bola Tinubu to set up an emergency mini-grid power plant to provide adequate voltage in the state and diversify generation to reduce dependence on the national grid.

Meanwhile, the TCN had said power supply had been successfully restored to seven northern states through its 330kV Ugwuaji-Apir transmission line one.

The company said with the restoration, the Apir-Lafia 330kV transmission line two is also operational, enabling power transmission to Lafia, Makurdi, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, and Gombe states.