Bayelsa: My People Have No Power For 90 Days- Gov

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa says the destruction of power infrastructure by vandals in the state has paralyzed electricity in the oil rich state for three months.

For more than 90 days, the people of the state have been denied electricity, the governor said on Friday at the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE event in the state.

The governors informed the Editors that the state’s experience was similar to what happened in the northern part of the country recently where vandals destroyed power platforms. While power has been restored to the north, the governor said the state is still reeling in total darkness due to the power outage.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently ordered the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, to restore electricity to the north following months of power outage due to vandalisation by bandits.

Governor Diri said in the past it’s difficult by state government to resolve major electricity problems because power was under Exclusive Legislative List, noting that the recent amendment to the law has empowered states to invest in power, adding that  the state will soon own its power generation through turbines.

He said the state will leverage on the abundance of natural gas to bulit its own power turbines.

Diri: “I just want to let you know maybe you are in hotels where you have power. Bayelsa has been without power for the past three months. The hotels have light, so you may not know that the people of this state have been living without power for the past three months.

“The reason was that electrical installations of the Transmission Company of Nigeria were vandalized by criminals. After that vandalization, the state has remained in darkness till today. The other one that happened in the North was also a similar thing to this one, but we heard power has been restored in the North.

“But in our state here, for three months and still counting, there is no electricity and we are working hand in gloves with the Transmission Company of Nigeria. As you are all aware, energy was is under the exclusive list, particularly transmission. It is only with the coming of Mr. President that he liberalized it and signed into the law that now allows state governments to generate and distribute energy.

“For us as a state, we are very rich in gas, even more than oil. Now we are working with the TCN to restore the National Grid but we will not stop it there. We have now moved beyond that to see how we can have our own independent power supply through the gas turbines.”