ACF alleges Federal Govt indifference to Northern Nigeria’s power outage

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), on Monday, accused the Federal Government of deliberately prolonging the power outage in Northern Nigeria, deepening the region’s economic woes.

The outage, caused by vandalized electricity transmission lines, has paralyzed economic and social activities for over a week, sparking widespread frustration.

Tukur Muhammad-Baba, ACF’s National Publicity Secretary, in a press release, said: “Over the past one week and still counting, most parts of the northern states of Nigeria have been battling with sustained electric power supply outage, leading to near total paralysis in economic and social activities, not to talk of growing generalized frustration of the populace.”

He added, “The situation appears even more dire and frightening as statements from the Transmission Company of Nigeria suggest that the problem is likely to persist interminably due to technical and security challenges.”

ACF questioned why the North, generating substantial electricity, receives the least supply, highlighting the disparity in sub-stations – Lagos has eight, while the entire North has only three.

Read Also: Speaker Abass advocates constitutional amendment to increase women in governance

“It just does not make any sense that Lagos alone has eight sub-stations, while the whole of the northern states combined, harboring more than half of Nigeria’s total population, has only three sub-stations at Jos, Kaduna and Kano,” Muhammad-Baba noted.

The outage has crippled small businesses, such as telephone recharge points, barbing salons and food processors, affecting millions who rely on them for daily income.

Medium-scale enterprises, like rice mills and bakeries, are also struggling due to high fuel costs and lack of alternative power sources. “The smallest of small businesses… are unable to operate. It has also been the same with medium-scale enterprises,” ACF stated.

ACF warned that the situation poses a significant national security threat, criticizing public officials’ silence as “unacceptable.” “To suggest that the problem has its roots in what had been done or not in the past is merely to make excuses. To lamely offer unintelligent excuses… is to totally surrender to the terroristic criminals,” Muhammad-Baba declared.

ACF urged:

1. Immediate Review: Of power supply allocation, ensuring fairness and equity.
2. State of Emergency: Declaration to address the crisis.
3. Northern Governors and Lawmakers: To speak out and demand action.

“The problem should be addressed with the honest urgency it deserves. This threat to national security should forthwith be treated with the seriousness it deserves,” Muhammad-Baba emphasized.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now