N9 Billion Has Been Lost to Power Vandalism in Nigeria – Minister

  • In 2024, N9 billion was spent to restore vandalised power infrastructure in Northern Nigeria, delays caused by bandit attacks.
  • N8 billion was allocated in the 2025 budget for advocacy and technology to protect infrastructure, not bill sensitisation.
  • The second phase of the Siemens project will begin in early 2025. It will focus on constructing 34 substations to strengthen the grid and reduce outages.

Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu has raised concerns about Nigeria’s increasing vandalism of power infrastructure. In 2024, the government spent over N9 billion to repair damaged infrastructure in northern Nigeria.

Adelabu said the vandalism obstructs efforts to provide stable electricity across the country. He clarified that the N8 billion in the ministry’s 2025 budget will go toward advocacy, education, and technology to protect infrastructure, not for sensitising Nigerians on electricity bill payments.

“The funds will educate Nigerians on the importance of protecting power infrastructure, contrary to claims that it is for bill sensitisation,” Adelabu said in a statement from his adviser, Bolaji Tunji.

The minister noted that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) used over N9 billion to fix transmission towers and lines destroyed by terrorists along the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line. This damage plunged parts of Northern Nigeria into darkness last year. However, bandit activity continues to delay repair efforts.

“We spent over N9 billion restoring the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line, but bandit attacks slowed down repairs,” Adelabu said.

He urged advocacy to reduce vandalism, highlighting that the latest attacks left parts of Abuja in darkness. Vandalism of power infrastructure, he said, has worsened in recent years, with terrorists increasingly targeting critical assets.

“Vandalism has escalated. Last year, bandits attacked the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line using dynamites, cutting off power in much of Northern Nigeria for over two weeks,” he added.

Adelabu also outlined steps to address frequent grid collapses. The second phase of the Siemens project will begin in early 2025, focusing on constructing 14 brownfield and 20 greenfield substations. The pilot phase, which involved installing 10 power transformers and mobile substations, is nearly complete.

“The Siemens project, designed to fix our decayed infrastructure, stands at 95% completion for the pilot phase. We installed eight transformers and five mobile substations in Kogi, Delta, Edo, Abuja, Lagos, Yobe, Kebbi, Niger, Kano, Oyo, and Ogun,” Adelabu said.

The second phase will expand substations to strengthen the grid and reduce grid collapse incidents. Adelabu confirmed that agreements are in place to build five substations in the first quarter of 2025, which will increase grid capacity and help prevent outages.

“The next phase of the Siemens project will prevent grid collapse and improve electricity supply. The SCADA system monitors the grid and is ongoing,” he added.

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