THE Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has summoned the chief executives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over the worsening power supply in their regions.
Adelabu, in a statement made available by his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, also summoned the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed Abdulazeez, over the deteriorating power situation.
The ICIR reports that there has been an abysmal power supply situation nationwide since the beginning of this year.
Several parts of Abuja have been experiencing a blackout as the TCN on Wednesday, February 28, confirmed the vandalisation of its transmission towers by vandals.
The transmission company said Tower 70 along its 330kV Gwagwalada-Katampe Transmission line was ‘seriously vandalised.’
The incident, the company said, occurred on the 26th of February at about 11.32 pm.
The situation was similar in several parts of the country, with many Nigerians protesting against the epileptic and complete outage of power supply.
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Expressing concern over the situation, Adelabu, via a letter signed by the Director of Distribution Services at the Federal Ministry of Power, B.U Mustapha, mandated the chief executives of the Discos and TCN to be present at a meeting set for next week.
According to the statement, Adelabu said the management of other non-performing discos would also be queried over non-performance as reports continue to filter in on the situation in their regions.
“These two discos have been summoned due to the worsening power supply situation in their regions despite improved supply from TCN,” the power minister stated.
Adelabu said that despite the gas shortage, the ministry had been urging power-generating companies to enhance their performance, and generation had been ramped up to over 4,000 megawatts in recent days.
“So, we expect power supply to have improved across the country, unlike what we are experiencing in some regions, currently. Findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions.
Going forward, the minister said the focus would be on all the DisCos to compel them to perform while “wilful non-performance by any DisCo could suffice as a reason for severe punishment or outright license revocation, the statement stated.
The minister has also directed TCN to commence repair works on the damaged transmission towers and power lines immediately to improve supply in the affected regions.
In a related development, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has also attributed the power outage being experienced in some parts of Abuja to a fault affecting the 33kV Nigerian National Integrated Power Project-NIPP feeder and repairs on the transmission station at AT4.
The management of AEDC made this known in a statement posted via its official X handle on Tuesday night.
“The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc. (AEDC) wishes to notify its esteemed customers in (Abuja) that the power outage being experienced is due to a fault affecting the 33kV NIPP feeder and repairs on the transmission station at AT4 are ongoing,” the company said.
Nigerians groan over poor supply
A resident of Lugbe, Abuja, Kabir Muhammad, bemoaned the poor supply of electricity in the past few weeks, stating that the electricity distribution has gone from bad to worse.
He noted that until yesterday night, he had not set his eyes on electricity for almost a week.
“They did not give us light for almost a week and that has a significant impact on my livelihood because of the extreme heat.”
Also, Mikail Kayode, who resides in the Bwari area of FCT, criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu for its failure to address basic needs in Nigeria, particularly electricity supply.
According to him, there has been an epileptic power supply in his area, with many effects on businesses.
He emphasised the challenges businesses face due to the erratic power supply, citing disruptions in operations, increased costs from alternative power sources, and reduced productivity as notable among the challenges.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M