The Federal Government says it spent N8.8bn on the repair and restoration of transmission towers that were vandalised across various regions of the country in 2024.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Transition Company of Nigeria, Suleiman Abdulaziz, revealed this figure at the Quarterly Power Sector Working Group meeting held in Abuja.
The Special Adviser to the Minister of Power on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, in a statement on Wednesday, said the government is yet to prosecute arrested vandals as they are usually released on bail by operatives of the Nigeria Police.
Abdulaziz, who was represented by the Executive Director, Transmission Service Provider, TCN, Olugbenga Ajiboye; revealed that 128 transmission towers have been destroyed either by vandals or bandits across the country between January and November 2024.
“As I talk to you today, 128 of our towers have been destroyed by either vandals or bandits. To date, we have spent about N8.8bn, by our estimation, to put them back to full and functional use,” he stated.
Abdulaziz explained that when the vandals were apprehended and handed over to the police for prosecution, they were bailed based on theft and not vandalism.
“It is so sad that each time the vandals were caught and taken to the police for prosecution, police would incident them for theft instead of vandalism, and they would be bailed. If they are charged for vandalism, they cannot be bailed, but this is where we are. So many of them have been arrested, but each time they will be bailed because police often incident their cases as that of theft.
“When the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna towers were destroyed, we had to get the full military escorts for our contractors to get the transmission lines and towers restored and in some cases, they would tell us that we could only work for two hours in some days. In some instances, they would even tell us that it was not safe to move there. How do we get out of this? How can we deliver electricity to Nigerians under these terrible circumstances? These are part of the challenges we are facing in the power sector,” Abdulaziz said.
On his part, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who was represented by his Chief Technical Adviser, Mr Adedayo Olowoniyi, disclosed that the government is working in collaboration with the World Bank and the African Development Bank to make electricity available to 50 million Nigerians by the year 2030.
“Mission 300 is driven by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, and it is a project that will provide electricity to 300 million Africans, and Nigeria will benefit 50 million from this. Nigeria has a large population that is without electricity and this is a great opportunity for us to be part of this process.
“The Compact document will be signed by our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Tanzania in January 2025. We worked extensively with the World Bank, the AfDB and the Ministry of Finance to develop the document with all the countries that will be participating in it,” among others.