Dark Christmas in Ibadan

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It was a dark Christmas for residents of Nigeria’s city of Ibadan, as there was electricity outage in many areas.

The power outages affected major areas of the city like Apata, Oluyole, Eleyele, Iyaganku, Lanlate, Interchange and Liberty Road.

Mr Jide Oyenuga, Public Affairs Director, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IEDC) attributed the outage to a shattered Current Transformer (CT) serving the affected areas.

He said: “the power outage was caused by the shattered Current Transformer on the MVA132/33KV at the Transmission Station at Ayede in Ibadan.

“The Current Transformer exploded in the early hours of Monday, December 24, as a result of suspected over-heating and the age of the equipment.’’

He explained that the fire outbreak destroyed an extensive quantity of underground cables.

“Altogether, seven feeders are affected within and outside Ibadan metropolis. The engineers are already working on site to assess the extent of the damage and reconstruct the affected cables and replace the Current Transformer.’’

He stated that the company “is aware of the need of our esteemed customers in this festive season and we‘ll do all we can to overcome the emerging challenges’’.

The spokesman pleaded with the company’s customers and the general public to bear with the management, as it worked on restoring electricity to affected areas.

Meanwhile, the management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has assured Nigerians of steady and regular electricity supply.

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Mr Jonathan Ndiagwaralukwe, the Executive Director (Systems Operations) of the TCN, gave the assurance in Abuja, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“We are promising steady electricity not only during the Yuletide but also throughout the year; we are moving the sector forward.

“We are saying Nigerians deserve steady electricity supply and one of the cardinal points of this government is regular power day or night.

“All the efforts made in the past to improve the sector are gradually yielding fruits; we expect that the tempo would be sustained because all the investments made in the rehabilitation of power stations, transmission lines and even in power distribution are coming on-stream.

“Also, new projects are being inaugurated, especially the National Integration Power Projects (NIPPs) and new power stations.

“As regards steady gas supply to our thermal stations, which has remained a thorny issue; there is an improvement. Power stations are now getting gas and new NIPPs are coming on-stream,’’ he said

Ndiagwaralukwe reiterated that electricity supply would henceforth be stable and regular in the country, as the TCN had put requisite facilities in place to facilitate steady power supply.

He said that the TCN had installed new electricity transformers across the country, while reinforcing existing power transmission lines.

He stressed that the power sector was being overhauled via sustained investments in electricity generation, transmission and distribution, adding that this would enhance power supply to the people considerably.

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