Angwan Pandon Celebrates Christmas in Darkness, Authorities Blamed for Neglect.
TEC News| Nasarawa| 28th Dec, 2025.
Angwan Pandon Community in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State celebrated the 2025 Christmas festivities in total darkness following a prolonged power outage that has left residents frustrated and angry.
TEC News gathered that the community was initially on a 24-hour power supply before it was reportedly downgraded to a lower electricity band, allegedly due to claims that residents could not sustain Band A tariffs. Despite the downgrade to about 14 hours of supply, residents say electricity bills did not reduce but instead increased steadily.
Conflicting accounts have continued to trail the cause of the blackout. While some reports initially attributed the outage to transformer vandalism and alleged attacks on power officials by youths, an office source denied these claims. The source maintained that the transformer was damaged by a thunderstorm and that the matter had been reported to higher authorities.
Residents recalled that a similar blackout occurred in 2023, during which the community spent over eight months without electricity and also celebrated Christmas in darkness. According to residents, power was only restored at the time through the intervention of an individual who allegedly purchased and provided a new transformer for the community.
Now, residents say the same transformer has again been damaged, and there is no clear indication of when a replacement will be provided. This has raised fresh concerns, with a resident questioning whether the Nasarawa Electricity Distribution Company (NEDC) is waiting for another private individual to intervene before power can be restored.
“Why should we be paying electricity bills and still be the ones mobilizing funds to buy transformers?”
a resident asked, describing the situation as unfair and unacceptable.
Although a brief power supply was reportedly restored for about three weeks after the outage, youths in the community rejected it, describing the supply as weak, unsafe, and incapable of powering household appliances or even charging mobile phones. Since then, the community has remained in darkness.
Residents have expressed dissatisfaction with the silence of relevant authorities, including the state government, local government council, and power distribution officials, warning that continued neglect could worsen tensions.
As of press time, no official statement has been issued by the authorities regarding the blackout or plans to replace the damaged transformer.
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