The Federal Government announced on Tuesday that it will accelerate efforts to restore power to all impacted states in the country’s northern region.
This came as Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, announced that electricity would be entirely restored to the region over the next 14 days.
This means that the region, which includes 17 states, will remain in blackout until Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
Adelabu, when answering senators’ queries in the National Assembly, also stated that partial restoration would be finished within the following three days.
Adelabu added, “We are working with security agencies to access the grid, which is currently occupied by vandals.
“I assure you that within the next 14 days, the repairs will be completed, and power will be fully restored to the North.”
His statement, however, contrasts comments made by the relevant agency in charge of the repair.
Earlier in the day, the Transmission Company of Nigeria announced that continuing repairs to the broken transmission line that caused a blackout in northern Nigeria would be completed within the next five days (November 3, 2024).
It did, however, state that other procedures had been implemented to deliver 400 megawatts to specific places within the next 24 hours.
Sule Abdulaziz, Managing Director of TCN, announced the development during a press briefing in Abuja, updating Nigerians on efforts to restore power to the northern area.
He also indicated that a bandit siege substantially hampered initial attempts to repair the vandalised 330 kV Shiroro-Mando Line 1, resulting in the collapse of several other towers along the line.
Governors from the region’s 19 northern states urged for energy diversification on Monday in response to recent continuous blackouts in 17 of them.
Apart from Niger and Kwara, 17 northern states have been without power for the past two weeks.
The worst-affected states include Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, and Katsina, which have not received supplies in the last two weeks.
Others include Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Benue.
The vandalism of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, the main line that delivered electricity to the north, caused a disruption in power supply to the region.
On Monday, TCN stated that insecurity had slowed repairs but that it was working feverishly to restore the bulk power supply.
President Bola Tinubu also urged TCN to speed repairs and asked National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to give security assistance.
During the meeting, the TCN MD stated that the business has deployed engineers to complete the restoration and plans to distribute around 500 to 600 megawatts to the northern region by Sunday.
Abdulaziz said, “When the Shororo-Mando line was destroyed, the other gateway used to feed the northern part of the country was using the Ugwaji-Apir line. But unfortunately, that line was also vandalized. Restoring one of these lines will allow TCN to wheel about 400 MW of power through that corridor. TCN is also intensifying efforts to repair and restore the second line on Ugwuaji-Apir by Sunday, 3 November 2024.
“This will enable TCN to wheel a substantial quantum of power from Apir to Jos, Kaduna, and Kano.”
“When this incident happened, efforts were made by using local vigilantes who confirmed a snap conductor on a tower, but they could not identify the tower number.
“Arrangements were made to use the local group to escort our engineers in the night to effect repairs to evade the bandits in the location. Unfortunately, we did not succeed because the bandits got wind of our intentions and laid siege to the area.”
“Our engineers are working to restore that line, but due to security concerns, they require a military escort. By 6 pm, our engineers have to leave the area for safety, return to a secure location for the night, and resume work in the morning.
“As of now, line one, which can carry 400 megawatts, should be ready between today and tomorrow.
“The second line, with five spans vandalised, is expected to be ready by Sunday.
“So once we complete these two lines, we will be able to transmit at least 500 to 600 megawatts to the northern region,” he further stated.
