Nigeria’s national electricity grid remains vulnerable to frequent collapses due to the government’s inability to repair a critical transmission line in northern Nigeria, according to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.
During the 2025 budget defense session with the Senate Joint Committee on Power, Adelabu highlighted the damage to the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando transmission line, which has been out of service since a vandalism incident in October 2024.
“The Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando line was one of two key transmission lines supplying power to northern Nigeria. While the Ugwuaji-Makurdi line, also vandalized, has been repaired, insecurity has prevented the restoration of the Shiroro-Mando line,” Adelabu explained.
The continued outage of this critical line has increased the grid’s fragility, leaving it dependent on a single line and making it prone to collapses. Adelabu stated that while the government is focused on reducing the frequency of collapses and ensuring quick power restoration, such incidents are likely to persist until the security situation improves.
To address the challenge of vandalism, the Ministry of Power is collaborating with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other security agencies. “Security remains one of the most significant barriers to stabilizing our power infrastructure,” Adelabu emphasized.
The minister also unveiled a N2 trillion budget for the ministry and its agencies, with N229 billion allocated to the ministry itself. Key initiatives include a N700 billion Power Metering Initiative (PMI) aimed at reducing the metering gap and promoting billing transparency by next month. Additionally, N36 billion will be invested in distributing transformers across the six geopolitical zones to improve power distribution infrastructure.
“We recognize the challenges posed by grid collapses. Our priority is on reducing restoration times and enhancing system resilience,” Adelabu added.
The government’s efforts to improve power reliability and address systemic vulnerabilities are ongoing, with a focus on infrastructure investment and strengthened security collaboration.
