Northern Nigeria blackout: Consumers won’t be billed for electricity not used, says Adelabu

Adebayo Adelabu, the minister of power, says customers in the northern part of Nigeria who experience blackouts will not be billed by the distribution companies (DisCos).

Adelabu said he would meet with the chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and representatives of the DisCos to resolve the matter.

On October 22, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported a power outage in the north-east, north-west and parts of north-central after 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2 tripped.

Also, the TCN said the Shiroro-Kaduna line was vandalised and caused a reduction of bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano, and other major cities in the north.

Two days later, TCN said a snapped 330 kV transmission line in the swampy forest of Igumale, Benue state, led to the blackout.

Earlier, President Bola Tinubu directed the TCN to hasten repair and mandated Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), to provide security for the facilities.

Addressing State House correspondents on Monday after a meeting with the president on the matter, Adelabu said customers would not be charged for electricity they did not use.

“I’m going to have a meeting with the chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and all the DisCos for those days during which they suffer blackouts,” the minister said.

“There should not be billing of any sort for any customer, be it household customers, office consumers, or industrial consumers; they would be immune from billings from those periods.

“The transmission company of Nigeria (TCN) has already set out to fix this line. What they asked for, which has been provided for them now, is the security cover of the national security adviser through the chief of army staff and air staff to enable them to restore the damaged lines. We are optimistic that very soon this will be restored.”