Minister of Power Promises Restoration of Electricity in 72 Hours

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has announced that electricity generating units affected by outages will be back in service within 72 hours. This statement comes as the Federal Government addresses ongoing power disruptions in four states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory.

Tegbe explained that the outages are due to planned maintenance at the Egbin Power Station, issues with gas supply to some thermal power plants, and sabotage of important transmission lines. He acknowledged the difficulties these outages have caused for households and businesses in the affected areas.

According to Tegbe, the maintenance at Egbin and gas supply issues have reduced the electricity available on the national grid. As a result, grid operators have had to implement load shedding, which means cutting off power in certain areas to manage the limited supply.

He also mentioned that sabotage of key transmission lines has made it harder to supply electricity to some locations, especially in Lagos. The minister stated that his team is working with relevant operators to restore the affected generating units, improve gas supply, and speed up repairs to damaged infrastructure.

Tegbe reassured the public that the first units would come back online within 48 to 72 hours. He apologized for the inconvenience caused and promised to provide further updates as efforts to restore electricity continue.

This situation has also led to a disagreement between the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Ikeja Electric regarding the reasons behind the current power supply issues. Ikeja Electric stated that TCN can only transmit the electricity that is generated.