Calls have emerged from Nigerians for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, as Northern Nigerian states endure an 11-day power outage. This was revealed in separate interviews with Kunle Olubiyo of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network and Eze Onyekpere from the Centre for Social Justice, as reported by DAILY POST. The demand for Adelabu’s dismissal follows Tinubu’s recent cabinet reshuffle, aimed at addressing the ongoing failures of the national grid.
Since October 21, 2024, the North East and North West regions, covering at least 15 states, have suffered from a blackout caused by insurgents damaging the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line. Despite President Tinubu instructing Adelabu to expedite the restoration of electricity, the region remains in darkness. Adelabu has promised that power will return within five days, but the TCN’s previous assurances of temporary solutions have not yet been realized.
Olubiyo described the blackout as a national embarrassment, advocating for emergency measures in the power sector and suggesting that the national grid be decentralized into ten industrial hubs to improve efficiency. He criticized institutional corruption in TCN and called for the suspension of both the Minister of Power and the TCN managing director to facilitate a proper investigation.
Onyekpere echoed this sentiment, stating that Adelabu’s incompetence has allowed the outage to persist, highlighting a broader failure of security in Nigeria. He pointed out that such prolonged outages should not occur and emphasized the need for swift government action.
In response, Adelabu’s spokesperson indicated that efforts are underway to restore power to the Northern region, mentioning active collaboration with TCN engineers and security agencies to safeguard critical infrastructure.