The Managing Director and CEO of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Abdulaziz, has said that Nigeria supplies 24-hour electricity to Togo and Benin.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels TV’s Politics Tonight programme on Sunday, Abdulaziz said Togo, Benin and Niger receive 24-hour electricity from Nigeria and that they are paying for it.
“We supply Togo, Benin, and Niger. They get power from Nigeria on a 24-hour basis, and they are paying for it.”
Addressing the issue of unstable power supply in Nigeria, he said, “Nigerians are getting 24-hour supply, but it’s not everyone. Those in Band A receive 20-22 hours of power supply.”
Customers in Band A enjoy 20- 24 hour power supply, while Band B and C receive 16-20 hours and 12-16 hours, respectively.
Abdulaziz stated the possibility of achieving constant power supply across Nigeria within five years.
“I am telling you we can get consistent power supply in less than five years. The new minister is looking at the problems. He is not doing cosmetic showdowns,” he said.
Regarding the power grid collapse, he said, “If there is a system collapse, it doesn’t mean all the problems are from TCN, it can be from generation, it can be from transmission it can be from distribution. Some of these can also come from disaster. You cannot say it is the fault of the TCN just like that. TCN are in charge of managing the grid.”
He demystified the difference between the TCN and the defunct National Electric Power Authority.
“People have to understand the difference between the TCN and Nepa. When we were Nepa, we were the ones doing the generation, transmission, distribution and marketing.
“But now we are only doing one leg, which is transmission. But there could be issues in all other sectors which are the generation and the distribution. But people only know Nepa and they think TCN is NEPA and they put the blame on TCN,” he stated.
He highlighted the challenges with infrastructure, stating that most of the equipment is outdated.
“Most of the equipment we use is over 50 years old,” he lamented.