The Federal Government has announced plans to restore electricity to Northern Nigeria within the next 72 hours. During a session with the Senate Committee on Power, chaired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu addressed the power outage affecting the northern region and the recurring grid collapses across the country.
Adelabu revealed that as an interim solution, power would be routed through the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line, which will supply approximately 80% of the affected states. “Power will be restored to the North in two to three days. We will use the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line temporarily,” Adelabu stated.
The Minister also noted ongoing collaboration with security agencies to access damaged grid areas currently occupied by vandals. Full restoration, including repairs to the damaged lines, is expected within the next 14 days once full access is granted.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria previously reported that the outage, affecting the North-East, North-West, and parts of North-Central Nigeria, was caused by the tripping of the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines on October 22. Nafisatu Ali, Executive Director of the Independent System Operator, further explained that the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line was vandalized by insurgents. Following the incident, President Bola Tinubu directed the military to secure the power lines while repairs are underway.
