TCN to end blackout in Northeast amid pressure from governors

Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday said an end is being planned to blackouts being experienced in the northeastern part of the country.

Coming amidst clamour by the North East Governors Forum (NEGF) and the recent increase in electricity tariff, especially for band A customers, TCN admitted that the lack of power supply in the region presents significant difficulties and challenges, adding that the concerns of the governors for their people and the day-to-day running of governance and businesses in the northeast were critical.

“Our team has been tirelessly working to rebuild the four towers destroyed by vandals, and we will not rest until power is restored to all the affected areas.

“We appeal for a little more patience, as work is truly advancing. We are pushing our contractors very hard to ensure we deliver on our promise of rebuilding the towers and energizing the transmission line,” TCN said in a statement signed by the General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mba.

She insisted that despite the recent increase in vandalism, the company has continued to rebuild towers each time they are damaged and has consistently restored supply.

Mba said four vandalized towers on the Gombe axis were repaired, adding that despite prevailing poor liquidity, TCN already mobilized all necessary resources to ensure the job gets the attention.

“To expedite the work, we have insisted that the contractor put in place on-site machines that will help increase the fabrication processes of tower members which is ongoing. A visit to the site will show that the towers are nearing completion, with one tower at 90 per cent completion, another at 80 per cent, a third at 60 per cent and the fourth at 40 per cent.

“We are utilising all available daylight hours for the work. However, due to security issues, we are unable to work through the night, which we would have gladly done. Nevertheless, we are optimistic about completing the reconstruction and energizing the line within the given time frame. We expect power supply to be restored by May 27, 2024, through the new 330kV transmission line, allowing Yola and Jos DisCos to offtake and distribute optimally from TCN substations,” she said.