Minister of Power promise relief in 48–72 hours as blackout dey bite Lagos, FCT

Households and businesses wey long blackout hit for Lagos, Federal Capital Territory and two other states fit get relief within two to three days, di Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, don talk.

For one statement wey e title 'Update on Power Situation', Tegbe talk say di first of di affected generating units go come back on grid within 48 to 72 hours. Punch report say e post am on im Facebook page on Friday; Nairametrics talk say dem share am with di outlet on Saturday.

E talk say di shortfall on di national grid follow planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station for Lagos, wey e describe as di country largest thermal plant and di source of about 16 per cent of electricity wey dem feed into di grid.

Gas supply problems for some thermal stations and reduced output from hydro plants don also cut di power wey dey available, e talk. Grid operators respond by shedding load for some areas.

Tegbe also talk say deliberate damage to key transmission lines don block alternative routes for moving power to some places, especially Lagos.

"I dey aware of di strain wey di current outages don put on households and businesses," e talk, adding say im team dey work to bring units back in phases, improve gas supply and speed up repairs.

Why e matter

For many Nigerians, di outage mean hotter nights without fan or air conditioning, food wey dey spoil for fridge and small businesses wey dey pay more for generators and fuel. Residents of Lagos and Ogun don complain say di heat don make di blackouts harder to bear.

Band A customers dey pay higher tariff in exchange for at least 20 hours of supply a day. Ikeja Electric don already apologise to some of dem after e fall short of that promise on November 3 and 4.

Dispute over wetin cause am

Di crisis don set di Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) against Ikeja Electric over wetin go wrong.

Ikeja Electric bin blame grid instability for di November 3 and 4 outages. TCN reject that account on Friday, talk say gas shortages and lower hydro generation na di real cause.

"TCN can only transmit di energy wey dem make available to am and cannot transmit energy wey dem no generate," di company talk.

TCN talk say di Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) never trace di interruptions to failure of im network. E talk say 68 per cent of di interruptions on feeders wey serve Ikeja Electric come from load shedding wey dem use control frequency when generation low.

Another 26 per cent, TCN talk, come from Ikeja Electric alleged failure to follow load allocations, plus faults and maintenance on im own network. Di remaining six per cent na TCN planned maintenance, switching or line limits.

Tegbe talk say di federal government dey work with TCN, NISO and di distribution companies to fix di constraints.

Wetin go happen next: Watch whether di first units go come back within di 48 to 72 hours wey e promise. If dem do, supply suppose ease for di affected states; if not, di blame game between TCN and Ikeja Electric likely go continue.