How we plan to spend N8 billion budgetary provision – Minister

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, on Thursday, said the N8 billion in the 2025 budget appropriation of the ministry is specifically meant for advocacy, education, enlightenment and provision of technology to protect power infrastructure.

The minister added that the fund will also be deployed to enlighten Nigerians on the need to protect and take ownership of the power infrastructure and other national assets.

Mr Adelabu, in a statement by Bolaji Tunji, his special adviser on strategic communication and media relations on Thursday, made this known in reaction to reports that the ministry is proposing to spend N8 billion to orient Nigerians on prompt payment of electricity bills in 2025.

On Thursday Mr Adelabu said far from such claims, the ministry had no such need to preach to Nigerians about the need to pay for electricity consumed by them as the various distribution companies (DisCos) are capable of recovering debts owed by those who enjoy their services.

“Far from what is being canvassed, the federal government is deeply worried about acts of sabotage that have continued to erode the gains made in the last one and half years in electricity supply to Nigerians. It is important to correct the impression that N8 billion is being proposed for sensitisation on electricity payment.

“We are all aware that in the last few months, acts of vandalism have continued to throw different parts of the country into the darkness with vandals planting bombs under power towers, carting away power lines and cables, the recent one being the vandalism of underground cables that has thrown many parts of Abuja into darkness, it is, therefore, important to protect the power infrastructure,” Mr Adelabu said.

He explained that the advocacy would entail sensitisation across the 774 LGAs, 36 states and Abuja.

“It would entail the use of electronic platforms such as radio and television, social media, newspapers, and billboards to re-orientate Nigerians on the implications of vandalising power infrastructure and the need to sensitise Nigerians to own this infrastructure.

“It would also require the engagements of the different community stakeholders across the geo-political zones in town hall meetings; engaging local security men to protect such assets. This would also involve the deployment of technology to safeguard these assets,” he said.

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Also, he said the ministry will embark on some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects across many of the host communities to the country’s power installations to motivate and encourage them for protection by local hunters and security personnel.

“All these will cost so much. More specifically, the advocacy will take us to all the nooks and crannies of the country, and we will hold meetings with the leaders, stakeholders and youths. We will run television and radio jingles; we will go on social media so that we can really reach those we need to address this issue.

“We will reach them in their local languages and dialect. So, you can imagine how much this will cost, but we believe that this will help us to address this issue and arrest it. This is essentially what this budgetary allocation is meant for,” the minister said.

According to him, saying the ministry has budgeted N8 billion on sensitisation on payment of bills is showing a lack of understanding of all the problems in the power sector.

“We have the DisCos who provide the generated power to the customers, so we have no reason whatsoever to embark on an advocacy for customers to pay for what they consume.”

Mr Adelabu said it costs the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over N9 billion to bring back the transmission towers and lines destroyed by the terrorists on the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line which threw substantial parts of northern Nigeria into darkness last year.

“Up till now, we are yet to complete work on the lines due to activities of bandits who have continued to stagnate efforts to repair some of the lines. It is our belief that the advocacy we are proposing should be able to redirect the minds of those who are bent on taking us backwards in our effort to provide efficient, effective, and uninterrupted electricity to Nigerians,” he added.

Only last weekend, he said, almost half of Abuja was thrown into darkness as a result of the activities of the vandals.

He noted that the history of vandalism of the nation’s power infrastructure is legendary.

However, he said in recent years, it has escalated and in the past year, it has continued to increase at an alarming rate.

“We have suffered sustained and more violent attacks on our infrastructure. If you recall, for over two weeks last year, almost the entire northern part of the country was thrown into darkness, as bandits and terrorists, not just vandals, attacked our transmission lines and towers on the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna transmission lines.

“Dynamites were used to bring down the towers and the lines. This is just one of many such attacks across the nation. We have received support from the nation’s security agencies to address these attacks, but it has not abated,” he said.

The minister added that the ministry does not have a police or an army of its own to secure these infrastructures and this informed the decision to seek the National Assembly approval to embark on this advocacy to community leaders, stakeholders, youths, and all Nigerians on the need to take ownership of the power infrastructure located in their areas and communities.

Grid Collapse

On the issue of incessant grid collapse, he said efforts are continuing to tackle the problems.

“It is a known fact that over the years, the infrastructure has been neglected and allowed to decay to a state of dilapidation. These are being gradually tackled. The Siemens project is one of the ways of tackling this. The pilot stage of the Siemens project was to ensure the installation of 10 power transformers and the mobile substations across the country and so far, is about 95 per cent completion,” he said.

So far, he said, eight power transformers and five mobile substations have been installed in the following states; Okene, Kogi; Amukpe, Delta; Ihovbor, Edo; Apo, Abuja; Maryland, Lagos; Potiskum, Yobe; Ajah, Lagos; Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi; Jebba, Niger; Kwanar-dangora, Kano; UI, Oyo; Sapade, Ogun.

He said the second phase would see the construction of 14 brownfield substations and 20 greenfield substations, noting that an agreement has been signed for the construction of five substations starting in the first quarter of the year already.

This, he said, will further strengthen the grid capacity and reduce instances of grid collapse.

“Not only that, the SCADA project is still ongoing. The statement clarified that when the present administration came on stream, the generation stagnated at about 4000 megawatts, and within that period till date, over 1000 megawatts had been added to the grid, reaching an all-time, three-year high of 5,528 megawatts.

“In line with the campaign promise of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, electricity remains a fundamental right of Nigerians, and this we shall work to achieve,” he said.