The Federal Government on Friday apologised to
Nigerians for the hardship they are experiencing
due to the prevailing power failure across the
country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, said this in a statement issued in
Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Segun
Adeyemi.
Mohammed, who cited gas failure, sabotage
and vandalism of power infrastructure as
causes of the outage being experienced, said all
efforts were being made to rectify the situation
and ensure a gradual improvement of the
situation.
The statement read: "There will be a decent
improvement in the power situation from this
weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts
that will double the current power supply to
4,000MW.
"Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that
was reached earlier will take a few more
weeks.
"At a time the routine maintenance by the
Nigeria Gas Company has affected the supply of
gas to power stations, forcing down power
supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to
about 4,000MW."
According to him, it is a combination of
unsavoury incidents that has further crashed the
power supply to about half that figure.
"The vandalism of the Forcados export pipelines
forced oil companies to shut down, making it
impossible for them to produce gas.
"Then, workers at the Ikeja Discos, who were
protesting the disengagement of some of their
colleagues after they failed the company's
competency test, apparently colluded with the
National Transmission Station in Osogbo to shut
down transmission.
http://herald365.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/08134627/Buhari.jpg
"Finally, the unfortunate strike by the unions at
the NNPC, over the restructuring of the
Corporation, shut down the Itarogun Power
Station, the biggest in the country."
The minister said due to these factors, only 13
out of the 24 power stations in the country
were currently functioning.
According to him, it was this same kind of
unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply
and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.
Mohammed condemned the situation in which
some Nigerians, under the guise of the various
unions in the oil and gas sector or sheer
vandalism, would continuously sabotage the
country's power infrastructure.
"The bitter truth is that for as long as these
groups of Nigerians continue to sabotage the
power infrastructure, Nigerians cannot enjoy a
decent level of power supply."
The minister urged Nigerians, who may be
agitating for their rights in whatever form, to
refrain from any action that would further hurt
the same people they claim to be protecting.
(NAN)
Nigerians for the hardship they are experiencing
due to the prevailing power failure across the
country.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, said this in a statement issued in
Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Segun
Adeyemi.
Mohammed, who cited gas failure, sabotage
and vandalism of power infrastructure as
causes of the outage being experienced, said all
efforts were being made to rectify the situation
and ensure a gradual improvement of the
situation.
The statement read: "There will be a decent
improvement in the power situation from this
weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts
that will double the current power supply to
4,000MW.
"Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that
was reached earlier will take a few more
weeks.
"At a time the routine maintenance by the
Nigeria Gas Company has affected the supply of
gas to power stations, forcing down power
supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to
about 4,000MW."
According to him, it is a combination of
unsavoury incidents that has further crashed the
power supply to about half that figure.
"The vandalism of the Forcados export pipelines
forced oil companies to shut down, making it
impossible for them to produce gas.
"Then, workers at the Ikeja Discos, who were
protesting the disengagement of some of their
colleagues after they failed the company's
competency test, apparently colluded with the
National Transmission Station in Osogbo to shut
down transmission.
http://herald365.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/08134627/Buhari.jpg
"Finally, the unfortunate strike by the unions at
the NNPC, over the restructuring of the
Corporation, shut down the Itarogun Power
Station, the biggest in the country."
The minister said due to these factors, only 13
out of the 24 power stations in the country
were currently functioning.
According to him, it was this same kind of
unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply
and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.
Mohammed condemned the situation in which
some Nigerians, under the guise of the various
unions in the oil and gas sector or sheer
vandalism, would continuously sabotage the
country's power infrastructure.
"The bitter truth is that for as long as these
groups of Nigerians continue to sabotage the
power infrastructure, Nigerians cannot enjoy a
decent level of power supply."
The minister urged Nigerians, who may be
agitating for their rights in whatever form, to
refrain from any action that would further hurt
the same people they claim to be protecting.
(NAN)
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