… Says blackout is not deliberate
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has assured the northern zones residents of restoring power supply this week as it is currently working on alternative route through Enugu which is faster than construction and mounting of new towers in place of the vandalized ones along Shiroro – Kaduna route.
The assurance was given on Tuesday at a press conference led by the Managing Director of the TCN, Engr. Abdulaziz Sule, in Abuja to acquaint the public of the efforts being done to restore power supply to the Northern zones of the country.
The alternative route is Ikot Ekpene -Ugwuaji- Enugu -Makurdi route while the Shiroro-Kaduna route will take longer time to restore because of insecurity, engineering and construction work involved in replacement of destroyed towers along its route by terrorists.
Engr. Sule also said that work is ongoing along the Shiroro -Kaduna route as the office of the National Security Adviser to the President, Nuhu Ribadu, has provided security supports to the Engineers working at the site.
He recalled that the major causes of the non-supply of electricity to the Northern zones include the vandalisation of four towers along Shiroro -Mando 330Kv line which was difficult to discover until Nigeria Air force, Kaduna provided unmanned aerial surveillance on 17th October 2024 and the impacted towers were identified.
According to Engr. Sule, “In another related development, vandalism of Ugwuaji -Apir 330kV lines was reported on 21st October, 2024 causing tripping of the lines. Trial reclosure failed and patrol revealed damaged conductors due to vandalism.
“This compounded the transmission of bulk power to the Northern corridor as these lines serve as link between Northern and Southern area. This outage severely affected the wheeling capacity of TCN.
“The area affected has been secured with help of Nigerian Army and concerted effort is ongoing on one of the lines for restoration. Restoration of one of these lines will allow TCN to wheel about 400MW of power in that corridor. Also TCN is intensifying efforts to repair and restore the second line on Ugwuaji-Apir on or by Sunday 3rd November, 2024. This will avail TCN to wheel substantial quantum of power through Apir to Jos to Kaduna to Kano.”
The TCN Managing Director further pleaded for patience by the affected Northern zones, saying that it was note deliberate to keep anyone out of power supply.
On replacement of obsolete transmission infrastructure, he said the TCN is replacing them one after the other, adding that it cannot be done at once but based on availability of funds.
He also indicated that TCN has made proposal to buy new choppers for monitoring of transmission lines and other power infrastructure about two years ago, but is awaiting approval and finances.
On frequent grid collapses, he explained that many things can cause collapses, saying however, that the frequency has reduced when compared to the rate in 2015 to now.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement in the North, Abdullahi Yakassai, pleaded that TCN should be given a chance as it is making frantic efforts to ensure that power is transmitted to every part of the country.
He stressed that it is not deliberate act to keep any zone of the country in the dark.
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