Northern governors have expressed concern over the power outage in the region and are urging the Federal Government and relevant authorities to expedite the restoration of electricity.
The Northern Governors’ Forum made this statement on Monday following a meeting with traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Kaduna.
“The Forum has resolved to call on the Federal Government and relevant agencies to urgently address the current power blackout affecting most Northern states due to the vandalisation of electricity transmission infrastructure,” the governors stated in a communiqué issued after the meeting.
“This issue highlights both the vulnerability of essential infrastructure and the need to construct additional transmission lines and diversify our energy sources, to enhance connectivity across the region and bolster energy resilience.”
Vandalism of a transmission line in the area has caused a widespread blackout across the north for several days.
Businesses in many parts of the region are reporting losses, with economic activities brought to a standstill in some areas due to the outage.
Concerned by the situation, President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, along with other relevant parties, to hasten the restoration process.
Tinubu has also instructed the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, “to collaborate with the Army and Air Force to deploy sufficient security personnel, including aerial surveillance, to safeguard the engineers repairing the damaged transmission line.”
While condemning the vandalism of the transmission lines, the president warned that Nigeria would no longer tolerate “deliberate acts of sabotage and destruction of public utilities.”
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) announced it is working to restore power in the affected areas.
“TCN wishes to state unequivocally that it is working diligently to restore bulk power supply as swiftly as possible, despite current security challenges,” said Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager of Public Affairs.