UTELNOVA

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, said on Wednesday that some Nigerians had appealed to him to “slow down” efforts to improve electricity supply, as their freezers were now running continuously.

Tegbe stated this in Abuja while speaking at the commissioning of the 3-megawatt solar hybrid power project at Yakubu Gowon University, formerly the University of Abuja.

The minister disclosed that he had been receiving feedback from electricity consumers following improvements in power supply in some parts of the country.

“Places that didn’t have light at all for three months are now having 18 hours light. Some areas called me to say, look, I should slow down, that everything in their freezer is freezing.

“That is what freezer is meant to do. Let it freeze the food that needs to be frozen,” Tegbe said

The minister also raised concerns about the vandalism of critical electricity infrastructure, saying three major transmission towers in Birnin Kebbi had been destroyed by vandals.

According to him, the affected towers were part of the infrastructure supplying electricity to Kebbi State and extending to Niger Republic.

According to Tegbe, the vandals attacked the foundations of the towers, causing them to collapse, before cutting sections of the structures and selling them as scrap.

He said the Federal Government had set up a joint working committee involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to monitor and safeguard critical national electricity assets.

“You will not believe how many towers get pulled down by vandals,” he said.

Tegbe added that the government was taking steps to ensure that the vandalism of critical electricity infrastructure was treated as a serious criminal offence.   

58,726 students to benefit

Speaking on the Yakubu Gowon University project, Tegbe said the facility combines a 3.3-megawatt solar array with 3MW AC output capacity and battery storage to provide electricity to critical university facilities

 electricity.

“The government may not be in the business of making profit, but it must always be in the business of making progress. And perhaps no public investment yields a greater return than investment in education because when we power a university, we do not merely light buildings; we illuminate minds, enable innovation and strengthen the future of our nation,” Akinyelure said.