By Henry Umoru

The Federal Government has announced plans to restore electricity to Northern Nigeria within the next 72 hours.

Speaking in Abuja during a session with the Senate Committee on Power, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu addressed the ongoing power outage affecting the northern region and recurring grid collapses across the country.

Adelabu explained that, as a temporary measure, power would be routed through the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line, covering approximately 80% of the affected states.

The Minister stated, “Power will be restored to the North in two to three days. We will use the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line temporarily.”

He added that efforts are underway, in collaboration with security agencies, to access damaged grid areas that have been occupied by vandals. Adelabu assured the committee that once full access is obtained, repairs would be made to the damaged lines, ensuring full restoration of power within the next 14 days.

On October 22, the Transmission Company of Nigeria reported an outage affecting the North-East, North-West, and parts of North-Central Nigeria after the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2 tripped. Nafisatu Ali, Executive Director of the Independent System Operator, explained that the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, supplying power to the North, was vandalized by insurgents.

Following the incident, President Bola Tinubu directed the military to secure the power lines while repairs are conducted.