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Tinubu expresses concern over blackout in the north, directs speedy restoration of electricity

Bola-Tinubu

.Electricity to be restored to northern states within 5 days -Minister

.’FG to establish super grid to guarantee stable electricity’

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed concern over the blackout in the northern region of Nigeria in the last week.

He is now leading efforts to end the disruption that has paralysed social and economic activities, summoning the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

The President has directed the Minister of Power and relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the North.

President Tinubu is saddened by the reports of vandalism and wilful destruction of power infrastructure and other public assets that caused the unfortunate blackout.

In a meeting with the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, who briefed on efforts made by the Transmission Company of Nigeria to repair the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines, the President directed a long-term solution to the problem.

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President Tinubu charged TCN engineers not to relent in bringing immediate relief to the people who need electricity to sustain their social and economic activities.

To ensure that restoration work continues unhindered, President Tinubu also directed the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to work with the Army and Air Force to deploy adequate security personnel, including aerial cover, to protect the engineers who are fixing the damaged transmission line.

President Tinubu implored traditional rulers, community leaders, and other leaders of thought to work with security agencies to protect public assets and infrastructure.

He said the government will no longer condone deliberate sabotage and destruction of public utilities.

Meanwhile, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, on Monday, said electricity would be restored to the 17 northern states that had suffered blackout due vandalisation of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line in five days.

Adelabu said this while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

He said the disruption of electricity supply to the northern part of the country was due to vandalisation of Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, the major line that supplied electricity to the north.

He, however, said the transmission line would be repaired within three to five days.

“Mr President has instructed the National Security Adviser (NSA), the chief of defense staff, the chief of Army staff, Chief of Air Staff, to provide the required security for the people that will fix the demolished line.

“With the provision of full security, the TCN staff will have the confidence, together with the contractors, to go to the field and fix it.

“So, I’m just appealing to our northern brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, to bear with us that very soon, light will be restored, and we must all collectively protect our national grid to avoid further vandalisation,” said the minister.

He added that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had earlier given approval for the ministry of power to upgrade the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, one of the oldest transmission lines in Nigeria.

He said once the upgrade was done, the north would enjoy more stable electricity than what was being experienced now.

He promised to convene a meeting with the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and all the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to ensure that customers in the north were not billed during the period they suffered blackout.

Adelabu explained that the national grid collapsed twice in recent times due to the explosion of the transformer at the Jeba plant.

He said before the explosion, the last disturbance on the grid was about four months ago.

“Let me tell you the truth of the matter is we have old infrastructure. We have a national grid that is more than 50 years old.

“We have a national grid whose transmission lines are weak, the towers are falling, and the substations, the transformers are old.

“In fact, the transformer that actually exploded in Jeba was 47 years old. We’ve been trying to revamp this, to change them, but they cannot all be changed overnight,” he said.

He said the ministry would continue to manage the grid to prevent frequent disturbances, until it was completely overhauled.

Adelabu also said the Federal Government will soon establish a super electricity grid as backup to the national grid that is experiencing incessant collapse.

According to him, if the national grid has a problem, the super grid will be an alternative route through which power will be transmitted.

He added that regional grids would be established to decentralise the national grid: “The world has moved beyond having a centralised grid. Grid must be regionalised.

“We must have state grids, so that each of the regionalised grids will be insulated from each other.

“A problem in a particular line will not affect the others. Until that is done, we believe that we’ll keep managing what we have and reduce the frequent occurrence of grid disturbance,” said Adelabu.

Adelabu explained that the national grid collapsed twice in recent times due to the explosion of the transformer at the Jeba plant.

He said before the explosion, the last disturbance on the grid was about four months ago.

“Let me tell you the truth of the matter is we have old infrastructure. We have a national grid that is more than 50 years old.

“We have a national grid whose transmission lines are weak, the towers are falling, and the substations, the transformers are old.

“In fact, the transformer that actually exploded in Jeba was 47 years old. We’ve been trying to revamp this, to change them, but they cannot all be changed overnight,” he said.

He said the ministry would continue to manage the grid to prevent frequent disturbances, until it was completely overhauled.

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