The Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, has disclosed that Nigeria supplies uninterrupted electricity to neighbouring countries Togo, Benin, and Niger Republic despite many Nigerians continuing to experience inconsistent power supply.
This was disclosed by Abdulaziz during a live interview on Channels TV’s Politics Tonight program on Sunday.
He said, “We supply Togo, Benin, and Niger. They get power from Nigeria on a 24-hour basis, and they are paying for it.”
This comes amid ongoing national concerns following the recent collapse of the power grid for the third time in one week.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission had stated that Saturday’s grid collapse was caused by an explosion of a current transformer.
When asked why many Nigerians do not have access to uninterrupted electricity, Abdulaziz clarified that certain consumers in Nigeria do receive up to 24 hours of power supply.
“Nigerians are getting 24-hour supply, but it’s not everyone. Those in Band A receive 20-22 hours of power supply,” Abdulaziz stated.
Despite the ongoing challenges, Abdulaziz expressed confidence that power supply across the nation could improve within the next five years.
“I am telling you we can get consistent power supply in less than five years. The new minister is looking at the problems, he is not doing cosmetic showdowns,” he said.
Abdulaziz also addressed the issue of system collapses, stating that not all outages are caused by the TCN.
“If there is a system collapse, it doesn’t mean all the problems are from TCN. It can be from generation, it can be from transmission, it can be from distribution,” he noted.
He also highlighted aging infrastructure as a major concern, noting that much of the equipment in use is outdated.
“Most of the equipment we use is over 50 years old,” he said.
Nigeria’s power sector is grappling with multifaceted challenges, leading to inadequate electricity supply across the country.
Currently, the national grid generates approximately 4,500 MW of electricity for a population exceeding 200 million.
