Northern governors have expressed grave concerns over the persistent blackout affecting the region and have called on the Federal Government to urgently address the situation.
This plea came during a meeting of the Northern Governors’ Forum held in Kaduna on Monday, which included traditional rulers and various stakeholders.
In a communique issued after the meeting, the forum emphasized the need for immediate action, citing vandalism of electricity transmission infrastructure as the primary cause of the extensive outages.
“The Forum resolves to call on the Federal Government and relevant agencies to urgently address the current electricity power blackout affecting most of the Northern States,” the governors stated.
The recent vandalism has plunged the northern states into darkness for several days, leading to significant economic repercussions.
Many businesses are reporting substantial losses, and economic activities have been severely disrupted across various sectors.
In response to the alarming situation, President Bola Tinubu has mandated Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu and other relevant authorities to expedite the restoration of power.
President Tinubu has also directed National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to collaborate with the military to ensure the safety of engineers tasked with repairing the damaged transmission lines.
“This deliberate sabotage and destruction of public utilities will no longer be tolerated,” the president asserted, stressing the importance of protecting critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed that efforts are underway to restore power to the affected areas.
Ndidi Mbah, the agency’s General Manager of Public Affairs, reassured the public that TCN is committed to restoring bulk power supply as swiftly as possible, despite the ongoing security challenges.
As the region grapples with the fallout from these outages, the call for improved security measures and infrastructure resilience has become more urgent than ever.