The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its 330kV Shiroro-Katampe transmission line was again vandalised on Wednesday.

Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’S General Manager Public Affairs, said this in a statement in Abuja yesterday.

Mbah said that at approximately 11:43 pm on Wednesday, the 330kV Shiroro-Katampe circuit lost supply on the grid.

“A trial reclosure was attempted but the line tripped again immediately,” she said.

According to her, TCN lines patrol team was dispatched from the Abuja Regional office of the company to investigate the cause of the fault.

She said the team discovered that vandals had stolen part of the conductor between towers T216 and T218

She said that the TCN lines maintenance crew had since mobilised to the site and is working assiduously to replace the vandalised 330kV power conductor.

”Restoration of bulk power supply through the affected line is expected soon.

”We appeal to the general public to assist in identifying and reporting suspicious activities around power transmission infrastructure.

”Your vigilance and cooperation are crucial in helping to prevent acts of vandalism or apprehend the culprits,” she said.

A federal lawmaker representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency, Bello El-Rufai, has criticised Ministries, Departments, and Agencies for consistently refusing to cut down on their budgets, accusing them of spending public funds on frivolous items.

In a viral video obtained by PUNCH Online on Friday, Bello El-Rufai, the son of the former Governor, Kaduna State, Nasir EL-Rufai, urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to prioritise reducing the budgets of MDAs, noting that Nigerians are increasingly concerned about the yearly rise in government spending.

“Nigerians are tired of every agency buying forks and knives every year; we should show them we are serious and make these drastic cuts,” he said.

He added, “We need to cut down on costs. The recurrent expenditure issue exists in every budget. Even as a young person like myself, I see that we budget for vehicles every year, utensils every year. To open more revenue streams or block loopholes, we need to scrutinise these ministries’ budgets. If they bought vehicles last year, they should hold off because vehicles do not expire.

“These are the little things, Mr Speaker, that unless we start addressing, the loopholes will continue to grow.

“Since I was a boy, every year’s budget includes new computers and furniture, yet these items do not expire. We should cut them out entirely. We cannot implement a tax reform bill to strengthen the fiscal position of this country while, as leaders, we fail to cut costs.”

El-Rufai stressed that showing fiscal discipline as leaders would help restore public trust in government spending.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Friday, ordered MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay N15 million damages over the unlawful deduction of a subscriber’s airtime through unsolicited services.

The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, described as fraudulent, the regular deduction of airtime of customers by the telecommunication giant, for the auto-renewal of services not subscribed to.

It further held that the sending of unwarranted text messages by the company amounted to a breach of subscribers’ right to privacy under section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as the violation of Regulation 28 of Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.

The judgement followed an appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/137/2022, which was brought before the court by an aggrieved customer, Mr. Ezugwu Anene.

Anene had approached the court, alleging that he received over 244 unsolicited text messages from MTN for Weekly Guidance and Counseling, a service he said he did not subscribe to.

He told the court that from 2016 to 2018, N20 was unlawfully deducted from his airtime balance, each time he received the text message on his mobile telephone line he gave as 08030735301.

The Appellant alleged that MTN continued to deduct his airtime for Caller Tune Services that was imposed on him.

He told the court that the unwanted deductions persisted, even though he protested at the Abuja office of the telecommunication company and also used a code, 2442, which he was told would activate a Do Not Disturb service on his line.