GRID COLLAPSES WILL CONTINUE - Minister of Power cries out

Anthony Ekpo Bassey 

THE Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, yesterday cried out that the national grid will continue to collapse in the country owing to a faulty major transmission line in the northern region due to the prevalent insecurity in the area. 

Adelabu said this when he appeared before the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe-led Senate Committee on Power, to  defend the 2025 budget of his ministry. Narrating the situation of things in the power sector, he said that: "The Kaduna-Shiroro-Mando line was one of the two major lines transmitting power to the north. The second, the Ugwuaji-Makurdi line, was also vandalised but has been repaired. The Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line, however, remains down due to insecurity. This is why our grid is so fragile, as it relies on a single line, causing unnecessary strain."

The Power Minister regretted that the government was struggling to manage the old and dilapidated grid it inherited but that his ministry was working on reducing the frequency of the grid collapses. He also blamed the collapses on insecurity and vandalism. Nonetheless, he assured Nigerians that the present government was working towards restoring maximum power supply in the country.