“Northern Nigeria Blackout: No Billing During Outage Period, Says Power Minister Adelabu.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, declared that consumers in northern Nigeria who have been impacted by recent power outages will not be charged for electricity during blackout times.

Adelabu said he would meet with the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and distribution firms (DisCos) to formally announce this decision in light of recent transmission line problems.

On October 22, 330-kilovolt (kV) Ugwaji-Apir transmission lines tripped, causing major power outages in the northeast, northwest, and portions of the north-central regions, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Major cities like Kaduna and Kano experienced power outages due to vandalism on the Shiroro-Kaduna line.

The blackout was exacerbated on October 24 by another event involving a snapped 330 kV cable in a marshy woodland area of Benue State. In response to these disruptions, President Bola Tinubu ordered Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, to ensure security for transmission infrastructure that was at risk and instructed TCN to accelerate repairs.

“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,” Adelabu promised in response to the problem.

“All customers, whether they are household, office, or industrial customers, should not be billed in any way; they would be immune from billings from those periods.”

Adelabu voiced optimism for a speedy restoration of power, assuring that households and businesses won’t have to pay for electricity they couldn’t access, thanks to the Chief of Army Staff and Air Staff’s national security support for the TCN.