The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, on Monday, said electricity would be restored to the 17 northern states that have experienced outages due to the vandalism of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line.
Adelabu stated this while addressing State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
He explained that the power supply disruption in the northern region was caused by damage to the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, which is the area's primary source of electricity.
He assured that repairs would be completed within three to five days.
"President Tinubu has directed the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Chief of Air Staff to ensure the necessary security for those tasked with fixing the damaged line.
"With adequate security in place, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) staff and contractors can work confidently in the field," the minister said.
He urged the residents of the northern states to be patient, promising that electricity would be restored soon.
He also mentioned that the Federal Executive Council had previously approved plans for upgrading the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, one of Nigeria's oldest.
He said once the upgrade is completed, the northern states can expect a more stable electricity supply than they currently experience.
Adelabu also pledged to hold a meeting with the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and all Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to ensure that customers in the north are not billed during the blackout period.
To future-proof the northern power supply, Adelabu outlined a plan for distributed solar power grids across the northern states, aiming to leverage the region's abundant sunlight.
He said the government has engaged contractors and financiers to install scalable solar plants of up to 100 megawatts per state, a move expected to bolster energy independence and reduce demand on the national grid.
Adelabu emphasised that with over 10 hours of daily sunshine, solar power is a viable, sustainable solution for the North.
Speaking at a workshop organised by the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre in ONSA, Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, also assured that they are working round the clock to ensure that all critical infrastructures are properly secured going forward.
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ACF demands state of emergency
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called on President Tinubu to declare a state of emergency over the persistent power outages affecting northern Nigeria.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, the ACF warned that the ongoing blackout poses a threat to national security and should be addressed urgently.
The forum also criticised the government for attributing delays in repairs to security challenges.
It said, "To lamely offer unintelligent excuses - excuses, not reason - that the problem cannot be immediately addressed due to banditry along power supply lines is to totally surrender to the terroristic criminals."
Muhammad-Baba also noted an imbalance in electricity distribution, arguing that the North receives disproportionately low power allocations.
He said, "While the North generates substantial electricity power, it is ironically allocated the least in supply.
"It just does not make any sense that Lagos alone has eight (8) sub-stations, while the whole of the northern states combined, harbouring more than half of Nigeria's total population has only three (3) sub-stations at Jos, Kaduna and Kano."
The ACF called for an immediate review of the nation's power allocation system, stating, "It is unacceptable for the North to supply power while being plunged into darkness."
