3 weeks ago
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The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, on Thursday promised that optimum power would be restored in some parts of the Northern Region within the next 72 hours.
The Minister also clarified that President Bola Tinubu has never been against the North and has no intention of discriminating against the people, as perceived negatively by some unpatriotic citizens.
Adelabu made these clarifications during a meeting with the Kano State government on how to partner in enhancing power supply in the state.
He disclosed that power authorities were currently working hard to rectify the vandalised lines.
“I can assure you that our people are on the field working round the clock to restore power from partial to full restoration.
“Two of the lines from Markudi-Bauchi road that were vandalised; one of them is operational now, and I have been assured by the engineers on the field that by Sunday they will fix the second line to achieve full restoration,” the Minister said.
Adelabu further disclosed that efforts were ongoing to restore the main transmission line from Shiroro.
He said, “While we continue to work on the main transmission line to the North, which is the Shiroro-Mando-Kaduna line, this may take us about 14 days to fix because of the extent of the damage to these transmission lines.
“They used landmines to blow up these installations, affecting many towers and requiring substantial civil work for them to be fully fixed.
“The situation is worrisome and unfortunate. The President does not intend to discriminate against any region.
“What happened was not deliberate but unfortunate. It is not a situation we want to see repeated. If it does happen, we need to have a permanent solution to it.”
He explained that the power sector has been decentralised, with ten states enjoying the opportunity to generate power, although Kano is not among these states. He therefore called on the state to tap into this opportunity.
“There is a need to partner with us in generation and distribution. The Federal Government is ready to collaborate, as there are many projects left uncompleted that could lead to substantial losses,” he said.
Responding, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, represented by his Chief of Staff, Shehu Wada Sagagi, assured the Minister that the state government would explore alternative ways to invest in the sector and, through the budget, provide subsidies for consumers.
