Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the presidential candidate for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has stated that it is time to explore alternative power sources.
He made this remark in response to the ongoing power outage in northern Nigeria, which has persisted for eight days, causing significant losses for businesses and severely impacting essential services.
On Monday, Kwankwaso took to his official X account to tweet: “It is very disheartening that many parts of Northern Nigeria are in total darkness today due to vandalism on the important 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna power line that supplies the states of Kano and Kaduna and another line that supplies Bauchi, Gombe and other parts of the northeast.
“This situation has been further compounded by the high cost of petrol and diesel in Nigeria, which has further plunged homes into darkness and forced factories to close down.
“The time this crisis has taken to be addressed underscores the huge deficit of capacity our power sector has to address large scale problems and this must be addressed to avoid any future disruption.
“It is about time that we look into alternative power sources to address our energy needs and we need to exploit the abundant resources available to this country.”
Furthermore, Kwankwaso urged state governments and private investors to focus on investing in alternative sources of electricity.
“I wish to therefore encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources.”
On the other hand, residents, business owners, hospital administrators, and others in Northern Nigeria have voiced their concerns as the region reaches its eighth straight day without electricity, causing significant interruptions to essential services and economic activities.
Meanwhile, the outage, which started last Monday, was caused by the tripping of the 330kV circuit transmission line between Benue and Enugu, as well as the line between Shiroro and Kaduna, severely affecting many Northern states.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) reported that the 330kV DC Ugwaji-Apir double circuit tripped due to a fault, causing the Northeast, Northwest, and parts of Northcentral Nigeria to be plunged into darkness.
Hospitals and laboratories, which depend heavily on stable electricity for medical equipment and diagnostic services, are encountering growing challenges, leading to delays and diminished healthcare availability for patients.
However, TCN has acknowledged the current outage, assuring residents that they are taking "every possible measure" to restore power to the Northern region.
The company attributed the delays in restoration to infrastructure challenges worsened by vandalism and insecurity, which have created further obstacles in the recovery process.
This recent fault in the 330kV DC transmission line happened just days after Nigeria faced three national grid collapses in a single week.
Meanwhile, in 2024 alone, Nigeria experienced several national grid disturbances, leading to widespread power outages and a decrease in electricity generation.
