Osamagbe Imadiyi
The Federal Government said yesterday that the country’s frequent national grid collapses have no end in sight. Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, stated yesterday in Abuja during his appearance before the Senate Committee on Power, which is led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, to defend the 2025 budget that the government has yet to repair a major transmission line in the Northern region because of ongoing insecurity, which contributes to the national electricity grid’s continued vulnerability to frequent collapses.
He emphasized that vandalism is still one of the largest problems facing the power industry and stated that while grid collapses will continue, the government will make sure to lessen their frequency and guarantee a very short turnaround time to restore the grid.
He claims that the improvement of power distribution infrastructure and the resolution of systemic issues in the industry are the goals of this investment.
He also revealed that more than seven million customers are still being billed based on estimates, and that the Federal Government plans to start Phase 1 of a significant overhaul of five sub-stations nationwide.
According to him, the grid is under excessive strain as a result of the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line’s failure to be fixed, which frequently causes collapses. “Our goal is to shorten the time it takes to restore power, but we acknowledge the problems with complete or partial grid collapses. To do this, we are working closely with security agencies”. The effects of the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line, which had been out of commission since a vandalism incident in October 2024, were also emphasized by Adelabu.
Just as he stressed that cooperation, particularly with the office of the National Security Adviser, is essential to tackling vandalism, which continues to be one of the biggest issues facing the power industry, he also underlined that although grid collapses are predicted to occur, the government is committed to lowering their frequency and guaranteeing speedy restoration times.
