Report Reveals FG spent N29bn to Repair Damaged Power Towers
The Federal Government, through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has spent a total sum of N29.3bn as costs to repair 266 electricity towers damaged by vandals nationwide, the latest data obtained from TCN showed.
The incidents that occurred between January 2022 and October 2024, a period of 34 months, have affected power availability and accessibility across the federation.
This comes as the latest Africa Trade Barometer report has revealed that Nigeria loses $26bn yearly to power failures.
According to data obtained by Economic Confidential from TCN’s monthly bulletin and news reports on Monday, 266 power transmission towers were destroyed by vandals in various parts of the country.
The vandalism of transmission towers occurred in the Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Bauchi, Port Harcourt, and Benin regions. TCN contracts out the repairs of some of the vandalised towers.
It had also deployed in-house engineers of the transmission company to work on other vandalised towers.
According to energy experts, it costs about N110m to fix each vandalised tower, and a cumulative N29.26bn to repair 266 towers.
A breakdown of the report showed that 90 towers were destroyed in 2022. This figure increased by 23.3 per cent to 111 towers in 2023. In the current year, electricity tower vandalism occurred 65 times between January and October 27, 2024.
Further analysis showed that in 2022, 21 towers on the 132kv Kano-Kankia transmission line two were destroyed, and 16 towers were damaged under the Kano-Kankia line one.
Similarly, 19 towers on the Makurdi-Jos double circuit transmission line were vandalised, among others.
In 2023, 15 towers on the 132kv Owerri-Ahaoda transmission line in Port-Harcourt were damaged and 13 towers on the 132kv Ahaoda-Yenegoa transmission line were vandalised.
Also, 122 earthen conductors, 244 galvanised bolts, nuts, and copper cable lugs from the remaining towers were stolen.
Among the notable incidents in the first ten months of 2024 was the collapse of Tower 388 on the 132kV Jos-Bauchi line in the Bauchi/Yelwa single circuit transmission line, as were Towers 377 and 378 on the 330kV Gombe-Damaturu line along Bauchi/Gombe and Damaturu. Additional collapses were reported on the 330kV Damaturu-Maiduguri line, including Towers 125, 126, 193, 194, and 195.
In the Bauchi-Gombe area, 450, 452, 453, and 455 on the 132kV line were vandalised, and Tower 70 on the 330kV Gwagwalada-Katampe line in Abuja saw four of its footings destroyed.
Vandals also carted tower members of the 330kv Jos-Gombe from towers 288 to 291.
Despite improvements in power generation, vandalism continues to undermine these advancements, challenging the government’s ability to ensure a stable power supply across the country.
This extensive damage has significantly impacted the electricity supply in the affected areas, as noted by officials from the TCN, which manages the nation’s power grid.
Confirming this, a new report by Standard Bank stated that Nigeria loses an estimated $26bn yearly to power failures.
The cost which excludes spending on off-grid generators affects operational costs.
It added that businesses spend about $22bn annually on off-grid fuel to offset the impact of power shortages.
“Economic losses arising from Nigeria’s electricity shortages are estimated to be $26bn annually, without accounting for spending on fuel for off-grid generators, which is estimated to be a further $22bn.
“Blackouts cause downtime of production, risk the quality of goods that require controlled environments, impact water supply, and affect telecommunications infrastructure which businesses may rely on for payments. The result is reduced sales and income.
“In Nigeria, surveyed businesses must contend with a national grid that frequently collapses as it fails to meet a daily peak demand which is nearly four times its generation capacity,” the report read.
Last week, the Association of Power Generating Companies said the national grid has collapsed 162 times in the last 11 years.
Commenting, an expert in the energy sector, Professor Wumi Iledare, stated that tower vandalism is criminal and hinders the government’s commitment to increase energy accessibility, affordability, and availability.
He said vandalism discourages investments and increases energy costs.
The expert, speaking in an interview, said, “The act of vandalisation is criminal. There are three important things to keep in mind anytime you look at vandalization. When there is an incident, three important things are compromised. You are compromising energy availability, making energy accessibility more difficult and, finally, affecting energy affordability. This is because energy costs will go up anytime the transmission company has to incur extra costs and that cost will be transferred to the consumer.
“It’s an act of criminality to vandalise assets and should be treated as such. In a civilised economy, such a person will be taken to court and prosecuted. This also shows why an unskilled population is very dangerous and our politicians are making governance more difficult. This type of behaviour makes it more difficult for people to invest in the sector which is supposed to increase energy accessibility. The economic implications are enormous. The cost incurred by services provided to grow the economy is also affected. The government must begin to prosecute offenders for this.”
Meanwhile, the TCN said it is collaborating with the Office of the National Security Adviser to repair the vandalised Shiroro-Kaduna line that led to the reduction of bulk electricity to Kaduna, Kano, and other major cities in the north.
In an earlier statement, the General Manager of Public Affairs, TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said the firm is working diligently to restore bulk power supply as quickly as possible despite prevailing security challenges.
It also debunked reports suggesting an indefinite power outage in parts of Northern Nigeria.
The statement read, “The current outage affecting Northern states for several days now is a result of vandalism of the Shiroro-Mando transmission line—a critical infrastructure that supplies electricity to the region. Prevailing insecurity in the area has delayed the immediate repair necessary to restore supply.
“However, as a temporary measure, TCN had rerouted bulk power supply through the Ugwuaji-Apir 330kV line, which recently snapped.
“TCN has been collaborating closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser to work with our engineers to access the vandalism site to enable them to effect necessary repairs. This is vital to ensure the safety of lives during the repairs.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to overcoming these challenges because we understand the place of electricity in the socio-economic lives of the people and the extreme inconveniences this situation is causing the government and all electricity customers in all the affected areas.
“We pledge not to relent in doing everything possible to rectify the problems and restore power supply to the affected areas.”
