National Grid Collapse Not Ending Soon — FG

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said the national electricity grid will remain prone to frequent collapses due to the government’s inability to repair the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando transmission line in northern Nigeria, citing persistent insecurity in the region.

During the 2025 budget defence session with the Senate Joint Committee on Power, Adelabu revealed that the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line has been out of service since it was vandalised in October 2024.

The minister said this failure, coupled with heavy reliance on the Ugwuaji-Makurdi transmission line, has placed immense pressure on the grid.

The Kaduna-Shiroro-Mando line was one of the two major lines transmitting power to the north. The second, the Ugwuaji-Makurdi line, was also vandalised but has since been repaired. The Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line, however, remains down due to insecurity”, Adelabu explained.

This is why our grid is so fragile, as it relies on a single line, causing unnecessary strain,” he added.

Adelabu emphasised that while grid collapses are likely to persist, the government is focusing on reducing their frequency and ensuring rapid restoration times.

The minister noted that collaboration with the National Security Adviser (NSA) office, Nuhu Ribadu, is critical in tackling vandalism, which he identified as one of the power sector’s most significant challenges.

Adelabu announced a N2 trillion budget for the Ministry of Power and its agencies, with N229 billion allocated directly to the ministry.

He pointed out that N700 billion has been earmarked for the Power Metering Initiative (PMI), a program designed to close the metering gap, enhance billing transparency, and reduce fraud in the electricity system by next month.

Additionally, the ministry plans to invest N36 billion in the distribution of transformers across the six geopolitical zones.

Adelabu proposed installing solar-powered streetlights and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras on highways in response to the insecurity threatening critical infrastructure.

This initiative, designed to monitor and deter vandals, is part of a N200 billion sub-head in the 2025 budget to enhance security and protect the nation’s power assets.

It will be recalled that the last grid collapse occurred on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, marking the highest number of grid failures recorded in a year.

According to a press release by JEDC, the power outage has affected all feeders under its franchise due to the loss of supply from the national grid.

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