Senate mounts pressure on TCN to fix darkness in North East

The Senate on Wednesday asked the Transmission Company Nigeria (TCN) to hasten repair works on the vandalised Jos-Gombe 330KV and restore power to the north-east states of Gombe, Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, and Taraba.

It also directed the Federal Ministry of Power to allocate funds for the repairs and extend the power line to include the Gombe-Maiduguri end.

The six states and parts of Plateau State were thrown into darkness about one month ago after vandals reportedly destroyed key towers of the power line along the Jos-Gombe route.

The Senate’s resolution followed a motion moved by Sen. Manu Haruna (Taraba Central) and 14 other lawmakers from the zone at a session presided over by its President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, in Abuja.

The Senate also appealed to President Bola Tinubu, in line with the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of his administration, to expedite the construction of the Makurdi-Jalingo-Yola-Gombe 330KV transmission line to connect the North-East to the South-East transmission line to preserve as an alternative supply path to the North-East in the event of a fault on the Jos-Gombe line.

It further urged the ministry to “collaborate with security agencies and local vigilantes in the host communities of TCN transmission lines to deter and prevent acts of vandalism.”

Several senators, while contributing to the debate on the motion, called for more attention to be given to the wellbeing of the people of the Northeast, whom they said had suffered from long years of neglect.

For instance, Sen. Kaka Lawan informed the Senate that prior to the vandalism of the towers last month, some other parts of the north-east had been without light for two years.

“The issue of the 330KV line is a recent development. Before now, many parts of the zone had been without light for two years.

“Major facilities like airports and hospitals have no light as a result of the activities of vandals,”  he stated.

On his part, former President of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan, recalled that as far back as the 90’s, the “UNDP categorised the North East as the poorest in Nigeria,”  adding that “even today, the situation has not changed.”

He argued that though the federal government had intervened with the North East Development Commission (NEDC), the agency had its own limits, which would require that the government give more attention to the zone.

Sen. Adamu Aliero called for the arrest and prosecution of the vandals to serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements.

“Let’s find out who did the vandalism. It’s a crime to go and destroy social infrastructure.

“Those who are responsible for this vandalism must be punished.

I am happy that the TCN promised to restore power this weekend. I hope they will keep the promise.“, he added.

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