TRIBUNE NG
The Federal Government has spent about N8.8 billion to repair and put into functional use transmission towers vandalised across the country.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transition Company of Nigeria (TCN), Engineer Suleiman Ahmed Abdulaziz, at the Quarterly Power Sector Working Group meeting in Abuja.
Abdulaziz, who was represented by the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider (TSO) of TCN, Olugbenga Emmanuel Ajiboye, said between January 13, 2024, and now, 128 transmission towers have been destroyed either by vandals or bandits across the country.
He lamented that when the vandals were apprehended and handed over to police for prosecution, they were bailed and they would return and continue with the vandalism.
“As I talk to you today, 128 of our towers have been destroyed by either vandals or bandits. To 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 the 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.
“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,” Abdulaziz said.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, also said that the Federal Government was working in collaboration with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB) to make electricity available to 50 million Nigerians by the year 2030.
Adelabu, who was represented by his Chief Technical Adviser, Adedayo Olowoniyi, at the meeting, said the Nigerian government was working with the Word Bank and the African Development Bank to get 300 million Africans to have access to electricity by the year 2030.
