FG To Spend N1.24bn On Repairs Of 18 Vandalised Power Towers

The Federal Government is expected to spend approximately N1.24bn to repair 18 transmission towers that were vandalized across three states in January 2024, a check by THE WHISTLER has revealed.

THE WHISTLER had reported on January 11 a statement issued by the General Manager of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN’s) General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, naming the affected states as Rivers, Abia, and Kano States.

Similarly, on November 27, 2024, THE WHISTLER reported that the Federal Government announced that it spent about N8.8bn to repair and put into functional use transmission towers vandalised across the country.

A breakdown of the amount the FG spent on the repairs of the 128 transmission towers revealed that each tower gulped N68,700,000 for their repairs.

Also barring any last-minute changes, further analysis of the amount previously spent on the repairs of the vandalised transmission tower in 2024 has, however, revealed that the repairs of the 18 newly vandalized transmission towers would cost the country N1.24bn at N68,700,000 each.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had earlier raised the alarm regarding the incidents, which took place between January 9 and 14, 2024, in Rivers, Abia, and Kano States.

The vandalism, according to a statement issued by Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs for TCN, severely disrupted transmission infrastructure in these regions, causing widespread concern about the growing threat of sabotage to Nigeria’s power sector.

Speaking with THE WHISTLER, a Power Sector Analyst, Barrister Olabode Fadipe, described the vandalization of power towers as a setback for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), and a huge loss for the country’s economy.

Fadipe, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Sage Consulting Communications, asked the management of TCN to work closely with the security agents to fish out the perpetrators of the act.

He said: “The vandalizing of TCN towers by whomever in any part of Nigeria is a huge setback for NESI & for the economy of the nation. But the continuous occurrence also speaks to the fact that persons saddled with the duty of managing the utility are dropping the ball somewhere.

“The question is if within a space of 5 days, 18 towers were vandalised, what is the number that will be vandalised before the end of the year?  I think TCN now needs to intensify its relationship with security agents to fish out the persons who are behind this economic sabotage. The raiding of the second-hand goods market in Abuja recently should be adopted.

“That effort produced huge results with FCT officials discovering manhole covers from the shops in the market. The economic losses are huge. Loss of power supply at TCN level is usually very huge because they deal with a large amount’’.

FG To Spend N1.24bn On Repairs Of 18 Vandalised Power Towers is first published on The Whistler Newspaper