Mohammed Shosanya
The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, on Monday, warned saboteurs working against improvement in power supply and vandalising power facilities to desist from the nefarious act.
His ministry has the support of President Bola Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu to deal with vandals and saboteurs.
He said this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, during his inspection of the 46-year-old Ayede sub- regional station in Ibadan as part of his working visit.
Decrying the level of vandalisation of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) by nefarious saboteurs across the country,Adelabu said the engineering and repositioning of the sector being embarked upon by the present administration was not exciting to the saboteurs who are making money from the menace.
He said: “We must live up to expectations. We will not relent until we achieve improvement in power supply. We are working with everyone to protect national assets. We are working with the NSA for adequate protection of power facilities. We can see the saboteurs at work.
“Some people are not happy that we are improving supply, but we cannot be intimidated. They will meet us there. We have the support of the President and the National Security Adviser to deal with saboteurs who are poised to vandalise the nation’s installations, destroying power distribution activities.
“They are not happy about our efforts at repositioning the sector and delivering ourselves from their clutches because that is where they are making money. But we shall not relent. Let no one intimidate you. The rate of destruction going on in the northern part of the country is alarming. These installations being destroyed cost the Federal Government billions of naira to put in place. This is a fight we must fight jointly”.
He implored the staff of the sub-station to be committed, saying their efforts would be rewarded.
He added that he would institute a compensation and motivation scheme among Power stations where the best three would be rewarded.
Adelabu said: “Whatever we can do to improve your people’s welfare to improve on your job, I will do. We are going to implement whatever good suggestions you bring to our attention. Good performance will be rewarded, but more reward means more work”.