The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has expressed concerns by the ongoing power outage that has paralysed parts of northern Nigeria and thrown millions of households into darkness, thereby crippling businesses.
It says the outage is the direct result of vandalism on the second Shiroro Power Line that feeds the Kaduna Station which distributes to other states in the north.
In a statement by its national coordinator, Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, the coalition said, “We learnt too that the first other line has been faulty for months. Yet, no effort to fix it could have saved the current avoidable situation.
“We are particularly disheartened to learn that two towers along this line have not received serious attention at the beginning of the problem to promptly restore power.
Furthermore, the only alternative source of supply, the Jos line, has repeatedly tripped, which the TCN currently said is working to fix, but cannot bring about a lasting solution. The current state of affairs is not just unacceptable but deeply alarming.”
CNG says after engaging with experts, it discovered that there is also a significant infrastructural gap as there is no transmission system to carry sufficient power to the North-west and North-east regions.
“Despite the establishment of the Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Programme (TREP) aimed at creating flexibility in transmission with a budget of $1.661 billion, mismanagement has hindered its progress.”
CNG said the north, which accounts for a significant portion of Nigeria’s population and economic activity, is shamefully underserved in terms of electricity infrastructure and distribution.
“The region relies on only two 330kV lines while Lagos alone benefits from eight power lines. This disparity reflects a pattern of long-standing neglect and imbalance in national power infrastructure investment.”
It noted with dismay that the current DisCo load allocation is alarmingly skewed against the north.
“DisCos operating across the north—including Jos (60 MW), Kaduna (50 MW), Kano (20 MW) and Yola (30 MW) out of the existing 4,249 MW capacity. In stark contrast, Lagos’s Eko and Ikeja DisCos cumulatively receive about 1,400 MW, while Ibadan, Benin, Enugu, and Port Harcourt also benefit from significantly higher allocations. This current outage has, in the last 120 hours, pushed industries to the brink of collapse, with businesses suffocating under prolonged power failure.”
CNG therefore called on the federal government, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), northern governors, lawmakers and all relevant stakeholders to immediately expedite efforts to ensure power is restored to the north with a demand for a comprehensive review of the current electricity distribution framework to ensure fair and equitable access to power across all regions.