The Federal Government has highlighted the infrastructure deficit in Nigeria’s power sector, noting that some transformers installed in the 1960s are still in operation.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, conveyed this during an inter-ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday, citing infrastructure deterioration as a significant obstacle to the government’s efforts to deliver reliable electricity to Nigerians.
“All our gas pipelines are bad. There has been vandalisation of the gas pipelines; there will be a lack of adequate pressure on the gas pipelines where we need compressors and boosters,” the minister said during the event held at the International Conference Centre.
“The generating companies’ plants are also deteriorating. They are obsolete. For the transmission companies, the lines were installed over 50 years ago, the cables are weak, the towers are falling and people are vandalising them. Transformers are also weak. I have seen a transformer that was labelled ECN (Electricity Company of Nigeria) which means that it was installed in the ’60s; it has not been replaced.”