Nigerians are urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to dismiss Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, due to an ongoing power outage lasting 11 days in several Northern states. Kunle Olubiyo, president of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, and Eze Onyekpere, lead director of the Centre for Social Justice, expressed this sentiment in interviews with DAILY POST. This demand follows a recent cabinet reshuffle by Tinubu in response to frequent national grid failures.
The North East and North West regions have been without electricity since October 21, 2024, impacting at least 15 states after insurgents damaged the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line. Despite Tinubu’s directive for Adelabu and relevant agencies to restore power, darkness persists. Adelabu has claimed that power will be restored within five days, following repeated promises from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) of temporary power solutions that have yet to materialize.
Olubiyo criticized the situation as a national embarrassment and called for urgent reforms in the power sector, including decentralizing the national grid into ten industrial hubs to enhance efficiency. He highlighted corruption within TCN and demanded the suspension of both Adelabu and TCN’s managing director for a thorough investigation.
Similarly, Onyekpere emphasized the need for Adelabu’s removal, blaming the prolonged outage on incompetence among security chiefs and the minister. He pointed out that the government’s failure to respond swiftly to the vandalization of the transmission line exacerbated the situation.
Meanwhile, Adelabu’s spokesperson stated that the government is working diligently to restore electricity, emphasizing ongoing efforts by TCN and cooperation with security agencies to secure power infrastructure.