Bayelsa Power outage: Residents groan under darkness as govt assures restoration soon

Residents of Bayelsa State have continued to live in total darkness due to a power outage that has lasted almost four months, following the destruction of 13 out of 16 transmission towers along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV transmission line by vandals.

This situation has brought untold hardship to businesses and residents who have to pay more to generate electricity for their homes and businesses.

A resident, Ebitari Progress, who runs a business center in the Ekeki area of Yenagoa, the state capital, said, “I’m currently running at a loss due to the high cost of petroleum, exacerbated by the state’s power outage that has lasted three and a half months.”

Another resident, James Tarila from Edepie, a suburb of Yenagoa, lamented the burden caused by the high inflation of food commodities. “The situation is unbearable,” he said. “To make matters worse, the constant power outage has made us vulnerable to vandalism. Many valuable equipment from the transmitter have been stolen since it stopped working.”

State Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mrs Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, assured that contractors handling the damaged transmission towers at the Okogbe axis of the East-West road are working round the clock to restore electricity to Bayelsa State.

She gave the assurance at the monthly transparency briefing for August and September 2024.

She noted that the state government, in collaboration with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is working diligently to repair the damaged towers in Okogbe, Ahoada LGA of Rivers State.

The government spokesperson also stated that all projects in the state are ongoing, as they are being properly funded.

“As a government, we will continue to encourage all of us to be patient because we know the government is doing so much in conjunction with TCN to ensure that we have light and power returns to the state. And within this period, if you observe, you will see that all our projects are ongoing. There is no one that has stopped, which means that they are properly funded, and I want us to continue to report accordingly,” she said.

The Technical Adviser on Treasury, Revenue and Accounts, Mr. Timipre Seipulou, read out the figures for the two months.