- The Transmission Company of Nigeria says N8.8 billion has been spent on repairs of 128 vandalised power towers
- TCN said increased insecurity is hampering its operations
- The Minister of Power said the government is partnering the World Bank and AfDB to provide electricity to 50 million Nigerians by 2030
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says the federal government has spent N8.8 billion on repairs of vandalised power transmission towers across the country this year.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TCN, Engineer Suleiman Ahmed Abdulaziz, disclosed this at the Quarterly Power Sector Working Group meeting in Abuja.
Abdulaziz, represented by the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider (TSO) of TCN, Engineer Olugbenga Emmanuel Ajiboye, said 128 transmission towers had been destroyed either by vandals or bandits across the country between January 13 and now.
He lamented that legal actions against apprehended vandals have been ineffective as the vandals would often return and continue with the vandalism.
The TCN boss said, “As I talk to you today, 128 of our towers have been destroyed by either vandals or bandits. Till date, we have spent about N8.8 billion, by our estimation, to put them back to full and functional use.
“It is so sad that each time the vandals were caught and taken to police for prosecution, police would incident them for theft, instead of vandalism and they will be bailed.
“If they are charged for vandalism, they cannot be bailed, but this is where we are. So many of them have been arrested, but each time they will be bailed because police often incident their cases as that of theft.”
TCN facing security challenges
Abdulaziz further noted that the commission is faced with increased incidents of insecurity, which has hampered its operations and undermined its efforts.
He said, “When the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna towers were destroyed, we had to get the full military escorts for our contractors to get the transmission lines and towers restored and, in some cases, they would tell us that we could only work for two hours in some days. In some instances, they would even tell us that it was not safe to move there.
“How do we get out of this? How can we deliver electricity to Nigerians under these terrible circumstances? These are part of the challenges we are facing in the power sector.”
Power sector is beset by myriad challenges
Nigeria’s power sector is beset with challenges, including poor power supply, estimated billing, tariff hikes, recurring grid collapse, poor infrastructure and vandalism of facilities, among others.
Vandalism of power infrastructure seems to be the fad, as vandals have targeted many power transmission infrastructures in recent weeks.
The TCN recently announced that vandals disrupted the ongoing repair of the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132 kilovolt (kV) line and stole tower components from Benin-Egbin and Benin-Omotosho 330 kV transmission lines.
It also stated that vandals attacked the 330kV Lokoja-Gwagwalada transmission line one in early November and stole two spans of aluminium conductors from the line. Vandals also destroyed two transmission towers along the vital 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines, which led to a 1,800MW loss on the grid.
The incessant attacks on transmission lines have disrupted power supply across the country, notably in the northern part of Nigeria. These disruptions have resulted in economic and affected business activities, as well as impacting the national grid.
Collaboration to provide electricity to 50 million Nigerians
At the meeting, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said that the Federal Government is collaborating with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to make electricity available to 50 million Nigerians by 2030.
Adelabu, represented by his Chief Technical Adviser, Adedayo Olowoniyi, said the Ministry of Power is collaborating with the Ministry of Finance to achieve the target.
He also disclosed that a compact document for the project would be signed by President Bola Tinubu in Tanzania by January 2025.
Adelabu said, “The Mission 300 is being driven by the World Bank and the African Development Bank and it is a project that will provide electricity to 300 million Africans and Nigeria will benefit 50 million from this. Nigeria has a large population that is without electricity and this is a great opportunity for us to be part of this process.
“The compact document will be signed by our president, Bola Tinubu in Tanzania in January 2025. We worked extensively with the World Bank, the AfDB and the Ministry of Finance to develop the document with all the countries that will be participating in it.
“The most important thing is that we have to drive the process by ourselves through the private and public sector participation. We will do it through the solar form system, mini and microgrid, grid extension and connection.
“The reality is that it is not actually feasible, based on the resources we have, to extend the grid to all Nigerians, one, from the funding point of view and secondly, it may not be commercially viable to begin to talk of grid extension to those parts that are not viable, but that does not mean that we should not deliver electricity to them, which is their right and as part of the dividends of democracy. But we will start with the home solar system in those areas where the grid may not work.”
Recall that the minister said Nigeria aims to achieve 6,000 megawatts (MW) of power by year-end through a combination of hydroelectric and gas-fired power plants and targets to generate, transmit and distribute 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, 30 per cent of which will be renewable energy.
Nigeria loses $26bn yearly to electricity shortages – Report
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that Nigeria suffers an estimated annual economic loss of $26 billion due to electricity shortages, according to a report, Africa Trade Barometer, by the Standard Bank.
According to the report, businesses shore up electricity shortages by spending nearly $22 billion annually on off-grid fuel, which leads to increased operational costs.
