Nigerians in Lagos, Abuja, and other major cities have been thrown into darkness as the national electricity grid collapsed again.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed this in a statement on Monday, December 11, 2023.
The nationwide outage occurred in the afternoon, leaving power consumers across the country in total darkness.
According to the statement signed by Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s spokesperson, the restoration of the national power grid is already ongoing.
Although Mbah said that power supply has already been restored in Abuja and a few other areas, but it was confirmed that the capital city is still in darkness as at the time of writing this report.
“Abuja has already been restored, so have different areas. Full restoration ongoing,” she said.
Today’s seizure marked the second collapse since mid-September when distribution firms nationwide reported unavailability of bulk electricity from federal infrastructure.
This comes days after the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the ministry will collaborate with state governments to address the challenges in the power sector and boost supply.
Adelabu made the disclosure when the Governor of Abia state, Alex Otti, paid him a visit.
According to the minister, meaningful transformation in the power sector is hinged on the active participation of governments at the state level.
He said that state governments have a role to play in the distribution segment, which encompasses infrastructure enhancement, reducing the metering gap, enforcing bill collection and rural electrification.
They are also to help combat power theft, prevent asset vandalisation, and secure right-of-way transmission lines.
“To achieve this, the ministry plans to collaborate closely with state ministries of power, energy and public utilities,’’ he said.
Mr Adelabu said addressing challenges in the distribution segment also requires unified efforts from sub-national governments due to its retail nature.
The minister urged state governments to support and monitor Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to achieve their performance improvement plans since they are closer to them and better positioned.
Mr Adelabu also proposed unbundling various regional DisCos into different states to allow for more localised oversight.
“Financial collaboration modalities between the Federal and State governments will be explored, possibly involving a swap of federal government stakes in DISCOs with stakes in the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC),’’ he said.
