Bayelsa Power Outage: TCN Promises To Restore Power In Six Weeks

• Govt Seeks Extension Of Transmission Network To More Communities

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has promised to complete the reconstruction of its collapsed transmission towers along the Mbiama-Ahoada axis in Rivers State and restore power to Bayelsa within six weeks.

Engineer Olugbenga Ajiboye, Director General of the gearbox service provider (TSP), a subsidiary of the TCN, gave the assurance on Wednesday while leading a high-powered technical team on a courtesy visit to the state Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, at Government House in Yenagoa.

Engineer Ajiboye, who apologised on behalf of the TCN to the people and government of Bayelsa for the prolonged power outage and its associated economic cost, pleaded for the state government’s assistance in restoring power to Bayelsa.

He explained that the blackout was caused by damage to the TCN power transmission line connecting Bayelsa, and that approximately 18 transmission towers had been vandalised.

He stated, “We are here to plead with the people of Bayelsa State regarding the power outage. We are also here to ask for the state’s assistance in restoring power to Bayelsa.

“We came to inspect the situation on the ground, and based on what we saw, it would take at least six weeks to rebuild the collapsed towers and restore power to the state.”

Engineer Ajiboye lamented that 120 TCN transmission facilities had been vandalised across the country this year alone, and he urged the state government to provide security to protect its facilities.

In his response, Deputy Governor Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo emphasised that the state’s public power supply had recently become a major issue.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo expressed concern that, while only about 30% of Bayelsa is currently covered by the National Grid, the state had never had a stable power supply, even before the current damage to TCN assets caused by vandals occurred.

He urged the federal agency to expedite its reconstruction work, noting that while TCN was losing revenue as a result of the protected power outage in Bayelsa, the State Government was losing political capital and goodwill.

The Deputy Governor expressed the government’s willingness to work with the TCN to restore power supply and urged the Transmission Company to expand its transmission network to more communities in the state.

On the TCN’s request for security support for its facilities, Senator Ewhrudjakpo promised that the Bayelsa State Government would work with its Rivers counterpart to secure the transmission line.

His words: “Power supply has recently become a major issue in Bayelsa State, as the people have called on the state government.

“Bayelsa has never had reliable power supply, despite the fact that only about 30% of the state is connected to the national grid. We want you to expand the transmission lines into other parts of the state.

“We want TCN to change its relationship with the Bayelsa State Government. For our part, we are eager to work more closely with your team on the ground to discuss and resolve issues as they arise.

“Yes, you are losing revenue; however, we are also losing political goodwill and capital. The question is, why is there so much sabotage along the Ahoada-Mbiama transmission line?

“We must work closely with the Rivers State Government to protect and secure these facilities,” he said.

The TCN delegation was accompanied on the courtesy visit by Engr Sherifai Ali, General Manager, Transmission Services, Corporate Headquarters, Abuja, and Engr Emmanuel Akpa, General Manager of Transmission, Port Harcourt Region, among other senior officials.