Blackout: FG Promises Improved Electricity In 72 Hours

Nigeria’s power minister, Joseph Tegbe, has assured electricity consumers facing prolonged blackouts that supply will begin to improve within 48 to 72 hours, as the Federal Government moves to tackle disruptions affecting homes and businesses.

The assurance comes amid growing frustration in Lagos, Ogun and other areas over unreliable electricity, with residents complaining that the outages have made the hot weather increasingly difficult to endure.

Tegbe said the disruptions were linked to maintenance at Egbin Power Station, gas supply constraints and damage to critical transmission infrastructure.

Egbin, located in Lagos, supplies about 16 percent of electricity on the national grid. Its planned maintenance, alongside gas shortages at some thermal power stations, has reduced available generation and forced grid operators to ration supply.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Tegbe said, “I am aware of the strain that the current outages have placed on households and businesses in four affected states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.

Planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations have reduced the amount of electricity available on the national grid. Grid operators have, therefore, implemented load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall,” he said.

The minister said his team was working with power sector operators to restore affected generating units, improve gas supply and repair damaged infrastructure.

He added, “My team and I are working to return the affected generating units to service in phases, with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours.

We are also working with operators to improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to the damaged infrastructure,” he added.

The assurance comes as the Transmission Company of Nigeria and Ikeja Electric disagree over the causes of recent outages. TCN blamed low generation, gas shortages and reduced hydropower output, while rejecting claims that transmission network instability caused the interruptions.

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