After 20 Years, Ministry of Power Begins Recovery of Abandoned Electricity Equipment as Customs Releases 98 Containers
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the evacuation of 98 containers of electricity transmission equipment abandoned at Nigerian ports for between 14 and 20 years.
The exercise follows a presidential directive to recover the stranded infrastructure investments and accelerate efforts to rehabilitate the country’s power transmission network.
The evacuation of the first batch of 44 containers out of the 98 already cleared for release was flagged off on Friday at ENL Consortium Terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos, by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe. The remaining consignments are expected to be evacuated in subsequent phases.
The exercise forms part of a broader Federal Government intervention to recover more than 300 containers of electricity transmission equipment stranded at various terminals, including Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, Adeniyi said the equipment, imported for government-backed electricity projects through the Federal Ministry of Power, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Niger Delta Power Holding Company and other government agencies, included high-capacity transformers, electrical cables, switchgears and other transmission materials.
He explained that the clearance followed a presentation by the Minister of Power to the Federal Executive Council, after which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the immediate release of the equipment and instructed relevant government agencies to resolve the outstanding charges and administrative bottlenecks.
“In line with that presidential directive, the Service has commenced the immediate clearance of more than 200 containers of power equipment. Today, I’m here with the Honourable Minister of Power to flag off the release of the first 44 containers from ENL Terminal. Another 54 containers at other terminals, in Tin Can and other ports, would also be released in turn,” Adeniyi said.
The Customs chief said the Service had introduced special measures to facilitate the evacuation, including priority processing, dedicated officers for joint examination and the application of approved waivers on relevant charges accumulated while the equipment remained at the ports.
He acknowledged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, for approving waivers on administrative charges, while commending the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for facilitating waivers on demurrage charges through engagements with terminal operators.
Adeniyi said the recovered equipment would undergo technical assessment to establish its condition and determine which materials remained suitable for deployment to electricity transmission projects across the country.
Serviceable equipment would be allocated to ongoing and stalled transmission projects, including transmission corridors and substations, while obsolete materials would be disposed of in line with existing regulations.
However, the Customs boss expressed concern over the abandonment of government-funded equipment by contractors entrusted with executing public infrastructure projects, describing the practice as economic sabotage.
He argued that the failure of contractors to clear and deploy equipment procured with public funds had denied Nigerians the electricity, employment opportunities and other economic benefits the projects were intended to deliver.
Adeniyi disclosed that the problem was not limited to the power sector, as similar cases had been identified involving government programmes and donations from international organisations and donor agencies, including equipment meant for critical health interventions.
He warned that the Service would work with supervising ministries and relevant oversight agencies to identify contractors responsible for abandoning the consignments and provide information that would enable appropriate authorities to hold them accountable.
The possibility of blacklisting contractors found culpable was also raised as part of efforts to prevent a recurrence of the practice and ensure that public resources committed to infrastructure development translate into completed projects.
Speaking at the event, Tegbe described the release of the equipment as a significant step towards addressing longstanding challenges in the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure.
He said the prolonged abandonment had stalled the expansion and rehabilitation of the national transmission network, leaving some projects uncompleted for nearly two decades.
According to the Minister, the equipment was originally procured to expand the transmission network, strengthen substations and improve the capacity to evacuate electricity generated from power plants to consumers.
He noted that the delay had tied down public funds, while existing substations continued to operate under pressure because the additional facilities and equipment intended to support them were unavailable.
Tegbe said the situation had contributed to operational inefficiencies, increased pressure on existing infrastructure, avoidable interruptions in electricity supply and difficulties for businesses and public institutions dependent on reliable power.
He commended President Tinubu for approving the release of the containers and directing inter-ministerial collaboration to overcome the administrative and financial obstacles that had prevented their evacuation.
The Minister disclosed that the immediate priority was to physically evacuate the approved consignments, complete the necessary procedures and ensure the return of empty containers to the shipping lines.
He said the Ministry, working with TCN and other technical stakeholders, had commenced identifying the projects for which the equipment was originally intended.
Technical teams would inspect the recovered materials and conduct the necessary tests to determine their condition and suitability for deployment.
Tegbe listed Kaduna, Osun, Nasarawa, Cross River, among locations expected to benefit from the recovered equipment, adding that other parts of the country would also receive materials based on the requirements of their respective transmission projects.
He said the deployment would help improve transmission capacity, strengthen electricity evacuation from generation facilities, provide greater flexibility in network operations, improve voltage performance and reduce interruptions associated with overloading.
The Minister assured that the recovered equipment would not be allowed to suffer another round of abandonment, disclosing that a structured project management approach would be adopted to ensure their installation and commissioning.
He also said the Ministry was strengthening coordination among relevant agencies to ensure that future procurement processes were properly aligned with project implementation timelines.
Tegbe expressed optimism that the first batch would be evacuated immediately, while the government was targeting the evacuation of the remaining consignments within the next one month.
Meanwhile, shipping companies and terminal operators pledged their support for the Federal Government’s intervention, assuring the Ministry of Power and Customs of their maximum cooperation in facilitating the evacuation.
They described the power projects as critical to Nigeria’s infrastructure development and said they were prepared to provide the necessary assistance to ensure the consignments were released without further delay.
The operators welcomed the government’s intervention, expressing hope that the longstanding problem would be permanently resolved and that effective measures would be introduced to prevent a recurrence.
They also commended Tegbe’s efforts towards addressing the situation, noting that the release of the equipment would benefit households, businesses and other critical sectors of the economy, while bringing an end to a problem that had affected both port operations and the country’s electricity infrastructure.
