Niger to Overhaul 600 Electricity Transformers

*Procures 200 new ones

Laleye Dipo in Minna

In a bid to improve electricity supply to parts of Niger State, Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has committed to his administration overhauling 600 defective electricity transformers of different capacities.

Speaking on Wednesday at the flag off of the “Bago Electrifying Niger State” project, the governor said already 60 of the transformers have been repaired.

The governor explained that the state which is hosting four hydro-electric dams in Nigeria “cannot continue to depend completely on the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), for the repairs or procurement of transformers”.

He disclosed that about 200 transformers procured by his administration are set for distribution to “deserving communities” which he believed would boost their economies.

Bago also disclosed that the government had paid over N1 billion debt owed to the AEDC after which the government “established a partnership that would ensure Nigerlites enjoy consistent power supply with AEDC.”

He urged both the AEDC and the benefiting communities to protect the transformers before appreciating the company in charge of the transformers for doing a good job so far.

The Director General, Niger State Electricity Board, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed Katamba, said the project, which is in line with the “New Niger Agenda” of the present administration is aimed at reducing the cost of procuring new transformers by about 80 percent and saved the state N20 billion.