Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured electricity consumers in the northern part of the country that they will not be billed by the Distribution Companies (DisCo) for energy not consumed.
Parts of the northern part of the country have been in darkness for about nine days, following the tripping of the 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir double circuit transmission lines 1 and 2.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN)also said the Shiroro-Kaduna line was vandalised and caused a reduction of bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano, and other major cities in the north.
It also said a snapped 330 kV transmission line in the swampy forest of Igumale, Benue state, led to the blackout.
The minister who gave the assurance after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the matter, said he would meet with the chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and representatives of the DisCos to resolve the matter.
“I’m going to have a meeting with the chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and all the DisCos for those days during which they suffer blackouts,” the minister said.
“There should not be billing of any sort for any customer, be it household customers, office consumers, or industrial consumers; they would be immune from billings for those periods.
“The transmission company of Nigeria (TCN) has already set out to fix this line. What they asked for, which has been provided for them now, is the security cover of the national security adviser through the chief of army staff and air staff to enable them to restore the damaged lines. We are optimistic that very soon, this will be restored,” Adelabu stated.
