Reps ask TCN to fix power transmission substation in Yenagoa

The house of representatives has asked the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to fix the power transmission substation in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa state.

The green chamber passed the resolution during the plenary session on Wednesday following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Oboku Ofor, a lawmaker from Bayelsa.

In recent weeks, the electricity supply to the nation’s capital and across the country has deteriorated, with distribution companies attributing the prolonged blackout to gas constraints faced by generating companies (GenCos).

Early this month, the federal government invited heads of electricity distribution companies, including Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over poor power supply in their service areas.

While moving the motion, Ofor said the 132/33KV transmission substation serving Yenagoa and its environs was gutted by fire on September 23, 2023, throwing the area into “total darkness”.

He said since then, the state has been “struggling to use only a feeder to supply five feeders.

“The operational feeder is getting weak and, if urgent steps are not taken, the feeder will collapse,” the lawmaker said.

The legislator said the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company has been carrying out remedial services to avert the collapse of the weak operational feeder.

The motion was adopted when it was put to a voice vote by Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house.

Consequently, the house asked TCN to “swiftly intervene to prevent the complete collapse” of the power distribution and transmission in Yenagoa.

The house also mandated the committee on power to ensure compliance.