Kwankwaso: Households, businesses in northern Nigeria affected by power outages, costly petrol, diesel

Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano, says it is disheartening that many parts of northern Nigeria are in total darkness due to vandalism on the transmission line that supplies electricity to Kano and Kaduna states.

In a statement on Monday via X, Kwankwaso, the national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), said private investors and state governments must reduce their dependence on Nigeria’s outdated and insufficient energy sources.

On October 22, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported a power outage affecting the north-east, north-west, and parts of north-central Nigeria.

The incident occurred after the 330 kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji–Apir double circuit transmission lines tripped around 4:53am “due to a fault”.

Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, said the fault was traced to Igumale, Benue state, where a section of the transmission line had snapped in a swampy forest.

Addressing the issue, Kwankwaso said power outages and costly petrol and diesel are affecting households and businesses in northern Nigeria.

He called on investment in alternative power sources to address Nigeria’s energy needs.

“It is very disheartening that many parts of Northern Nigeria are in total darkness today due to vandalism on the important 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna power line that supplies the states of Kano and Kaduna and another line that supplies Bauchi, Gombe and other parts of the northeast,” he said.

“This situation has been further compounded by the high cost of petrol and diesel in Nigeria, which has further plunged homes into darkness and forced factories to close down.

“The time this crisis has taken to be addressed underscores the huge deficit of capacity our power sector has in order to address large scale problems and this must be addressed to avoid any future disruption.

“It is about time that we look into alternative power sources to address our energy needs and we need to exploit the abundant resources available to this country.

“I wish to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources.”

In an interview with Channels TV’s ‘Sunday Politics’ on October 20, Sule Abdulaziz, chief executive officer (CEO) of TCN, said they are not responsible for all national grid collapses, explaining that such incidents can be caused by issues in generation, transmission, or distribution.