Kunle Olubiyo,President,Nigeria Consumer Protection Network,has faulted planned power outages in Abuja,saying bulk users of electricity,manufacturers,Small, Micro,Medium and Large Scale Enterprises ( SMEs ),could lose several billions of dollars throughout the period.
He also said the losses could be hugely devastating on electricity users in Abuja.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company had said that there will be power disruptions in several parts of the capital.
The company said the power outage will occur due to the relocation of the 33KV DC Airport Feeder and 132KV Kukwaba-Apo Transmission Line Towers along the Outer Southern Expressway.
A statement on its official X handle on Friday said the relocation operation would occur between January 6 and 31.
Besides,the Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced a total blackout in Abuja for 14days because of the dualisation of the roads in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which affected some towers along the corridor.
There would be some dismantling and construction of towers as well as restringing of the power cables,it said
The company also said eight number 132kV and 33kV towers will be relocated along the Kukwaba/Apo 132kV line (Outer Southern Expressway route).
TCN in a statement said that the relocation will necessitate a planned power outage from Monday, January 6, to Monday, January 20, 2025 from 9:00a.m to 4:00p.m daily, which is the estimated duration for the dismantling and construction of the towers as well as restringing of the power cables that would enable resumption of bulk power supply to the Apo Transmission Substation from Gwagwalada sub-station.
Olubiyo,in a statement on Tuesday,described the planned power outages as the height of irresponsibility on the part of the power firm and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to consider sanctions against the Transmission Company of Nigeria,Abuja Electricity Distribution Company with a view to restoring sanity in the electricity value chain.
He added:”We have received several calls from our women folks and housewives and others who have complained bitterly about the cost of this planned outages on their soup ingredients and stock piles of perishable items kept in their refrigerators .
“There are women and housewives that have stocked their refrigerators with soup and delicacies that could ordinarily have lasted them for One Month or two months or more.
“One could imagine the cost of unscheduled power outages to our women and an average poor family struggling coping with the prevailing global high cost living..
“With Petroleum Products(PMS,diesel or gas selling for above One Thousand Naira ( N1, 080.00k),most vunerable women folks can not afford the cost of fueling their generators which before the 2023 removal of subsidies would have been readily affordable..
“By implications,every housewives/ households in Abuja would require an average of minimum N30,000 to N70,000 per day to provide alternatives sources of energy per day within the two weeks period of unscheduled power outages.
According to him,these are tall order and not affordable for an average home / poor Nigerians.
He lamented that the action of the distribution licensee in charge of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company and Transmission Company of Nigeria could undermine the goodwill and gains recorded by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He said the Transmission Company of Nigeria and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company should have sought for money to build a back up yransmission sub-station at the proposed new site.
Upon completion,he said the AEDC and Transmission Company of Nigeria can then string the network/ cable ( 132KV/ 330KV Transmission Network) in collaboration with Federal Capital Development Authority ( FCDA ) / FCT administration.
He emphasized the urgent need for presidential intervention to minimise the effects of the developmental projects by FCT administration.
