KEY POINTS
- Nigeria’s TCN recorded 131 vandalism cases across its transmission network between January and November 2025.
- The national grid hit a historic peak of 5,801.84MW on March 4, 2025.
- TCN commissioned 82 new power transformers, adding over 8,500 MVA of transformation capacity in 2025.
Nigeria’s power transmission grid hit a historic peak in 2025 and absorbed 131 separate vandalism attacks in the same year. Both numbers tell the same story: the country is building and losing infrastructure at the same time.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria logged the 131 cases between January and November 2025, the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Suleiman Abdulaziz said in an end-of-year message to staff and stakeholders. The attacks disrupted grid operations and added pressure to maintenance and restoration work across the country.
“Vandalism remains one of the most persistent threats to the stability of Nigeria’s power transmission system,” Abdulaziz said, describing the challenge as “thorny.”
A record year for transmission
The vandalism did not stop TCN from setting records. On March 4, 2025, the company transmitted an all-time peak of 5,801.84MW, the highest level of electricity ever carried on the Nigerian national grid. Maximum daily energy delivery that same day hit 128,370.75MWh, another national record.
Abdulaziz credited grid expansion, tighter operational discipline and the commissioning of new transmission assets. TCN brought 82 new power transformers online in 2025, adding more than 8,500 megavolt amperes of transformation capacity to the national grid.
Development-partner-funded transmission projects also moved forward. TCN’s investments in these projects exceed $1.16 billion, and Abdulaziz said they are critical to strengthening grid resilience and supporting higher generation and evacuation levels.
Fighting vandalism on two fronts
TCN is working with the Office of the National Security Adviser, other security agencies and community groups to push back against attacks on transmission infrastructure. Abdulaziz said management will also intensify public sensitization to encourage protection of critical national assets.
The company has moved on physical encroachment as well. It recently removed illegal structures built within the Right of Way of transmission lines in Enugu State. The demolition affected fences and other structures erected dangerously close to Tower 31 of the Ugwuaji-Makurdi 330kV Double Circuit line at Akpuoga Nike, along with developments along a 132kV corridor.
TCN said the illegal structures posed serious safety risks and blocked access needed for routine maintenance and emergency repairs. Prior sensitization campaigns had warned residents and traders against building within transmission corridors.
Abdulaziz warned that sustained vandalism could erode the gains TCN has made. The path forward, he said, depends on closer collaboration between government agencies, host communities and security institutions to protect the infrastructure Nigerians are starting to depend on again.
