The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has assured Nigerians that electricity supply will begin to improve within the next 48 to 72 hours as the Federal Government works to resolve challenges affecting power generation and transmission.
Tegbe attributed the recent outages in parts of the country to scheduled maintenance at Egbin Power Station in Lagos, inadequate gas supply to thermal power plants and damage to critical transmission infrastructure.
In a statement titled Update on Power Situation, shared on his Facebook page on Friday, the minister acknowledged the difficulties facing households and businesses in four affected states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.
He explained that Egbin Power Station, which contributes approximately 16 per cent of electricity supplied to the national grid, had undergone planned maintenance, reducing the amount of power available for distribution.
The situation was further compounded by gas supply constraints at some thermal power stations, prompting grid operators to introduce load shedding to manage the reduced generation capacity.
Tegbe also identified damage to major transmission lines as another challenge, saying it had limited alternative routes for delivering electricity to certain areas, particularly Lagos.
He said the ministry was working with relevant operators to restore affected generating units in phases, improve gas supply and speed up repairs to damaged infrastructure.
According to him, the first generating units are expected to return to operation within the next 48 to 72 hours.
The assurance comes amid growing complaints from electricity consumers in Lagos and Ogun states over prolonged blackouts, which residents say have made the hot weather increasingly difficult to endure.
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Ikeja Electric have disagreed over the causes of electricity disruptions recorded on November 3 and 4.
TCN rejected Ikeja Electric’s explanation that grid instability was responsible for the outages, blaming the situation instead on inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations and reduced electricity generation from hydropower plants.
The transmission company maintained that its network was not responsible for the generation shortfall, arguing that it could only transmit the electricity made available to it.
TCN further attributed 68 per cent of interruptions on feeders serving Ikeja Electric to load shedding caused by insufficient power generation.
It blamed another 26 per cent on Ikeja Electric’s alleged failure to comply with allocated load, alongside faults and maintenance on its distribution network.
The remaining six per cent, according to TCN, resulted from its planned maintenance, switching operations and transmission line limitations.
The disagreement followed an apology by Ikeja Electric to customers on some Band A feeders after failing to meet the minimum daily electricity supply requirement of 20 hours on November 3 and 4.
Tegbe had earlier identified gas shortages, reduced hydropower output and operational difficulties across the electricity sector as factors contributing to the supply disruptions.
He said the Federal Government was working with TCN, the Nigerian Independent System Operator and electricity distribution companies to address the challenges and restore improved power supply.
