The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) says vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure are major factors contributing to the prevailing power outage in its franchise areas.

Busolami Tunwase, IBEDC spokesperson, said this in a statement on Sunday in Ota, Ogun.

Ms Tunwase said the unfortunate vandalism of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) towers in Ogun State in May 2023 led to over seven months of darkness for many of its customers.

“At IBEDC, we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone.

“In addition, we have noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February this year,” she said.

She noted that the theft of valuable assets, such as transformer oil, cables and aluminium conductors, posed a significant challenge to its operations.

Ms Tunwase added that the development had made affected communities to be thrown into extended periods of outage, depending on the severity of the act.

She said that in addition to vandalism, energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass, and illicit meters pose major challenges to the adequate power supply.

Ms Tunwase explained further that these activities not only disrupted the supply but also resulted in revenue losses and liquidity issues for the electricity value chain.

“The management of IBEDC would like to communicate these issues to foster understanding and reassure our esteemed customers of our commitment to finding lasting solutions,” she said.

Ms Tunwase listed other factors that militate against an adequate supply of power to include low supply of gas to Generating Companies (Gencos) and payment apathy by customers.

She said all of these had significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC.

According to her, this, in turn, greatly hindered the ability to provide power to customers in Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, and partly, Kogi, Niger, and Ekiti states.

“We, therefore, recognise all the inconvenience and sincerely apologise for any disruptions experienced by our customers,” she added.

(NAN)