The latest collapse occurred on the same day power minister Adebayo Adelabu promised the grid would achieve stability by completing phase one of the Presidential Power Initiative.
Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to set up a probe panel on the incessant national grid collapse.
Mr Oyintiloye, while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo, said the incessant collapse of the grid was becoming worrisome and needed a presidential investigation panel.
According to him, the latest collapse occurred on Wednesday, December 11, making it the 12th time the national grid will collapse in 2024 alone.
The latest collapse occurred on the same day power minister Adebayo Adelabu promised that the grid would achieve significant stability by completing phase one of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), also known as the Siemens project.
Mr Oyintiloye, who emphasised the importance of electricity to the economy, said that the frequent collapses of the national grid were taking a negative toll on businesses in the country.
He said there was an urgent need for a presidential probe to investigate holistically what was responsible for the frequent collapses of the grid to restore sanity to the power sector.
Mr Oyintiloye, a defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) member, also said that for the grid to have collapsed 12 times within a year “shows something is wrong somewhere.”
He said: “I believe that presidential investigation into this matter will unravel the problem and its possible lasting solution.
“The country is blessed with all the resources needed to keep the grid running, so why the constant collapse?
“The embarrassment must stop, and sanity must be brought back to the power sector for the sake of our economy. If sabotage is involved, that will be revealed through investigation.”
Mr Oyintiloye said that at the end of the investigation, anyone found culpable of sabotaging the government’s efforts to ensure stable power supply must be made to face the consequences.
He also urged the minister of power to put in more effort to ensure that those responsible for the maintenance of the grid were up to their responsibilities.
Mr Oyintiloye, a former lawmaker, said since Nigerians were already paying so much for electricity, they should be allowed to enjoy the benefits
