Epileptic Power Supply: Minister holds emergency meeting with stakeholders

Abubakar Aliyu, Minister of Power, is currently holding an emergency meeting with stakeholders in the power sector.

The meeting is said to be about low power generation which has caused epileptic power supply across the country.

In recent weeks, Nigerians have been feeling the pains of fuel scarcity and erratic power supply.

On Monday, the national grid collapsed, causing blackouts across the country.

The meeting has in attendance delegation from power generation companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Shell and other stakeholders in the power value chain.

Aliyu told stakeholders that they must work together to make electricity stable.

“This meeting was summoned to address the current electricity situation in the country which we are not happy about. We must find a solution so that Nigerians will have electricity. I want us to have the patience to talk to each other, not blaming each other,” the minister said.

Aliyu maintained that the Federal Government would not relent in its effort to ensure improvements in the power sector.

The meeting, according to the minister, will find solutions to all challenges affecting power generation in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the national electricity grid suffered a system collapse on Monday, leading to power outages across the country.

The development comes as Nigerians are experiencing epileptic power supply and a hike in fuel prices.

The grid is infamous for experiencing disruptions — it collapsed in February, May, July and August 2021.

Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in the country said the recent collapse of the grid occurred at 10:40am and disrupted power supply within their networks.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company Limited (EKEDC) apologised to customers and promised to keep them updated on the situation.

“Dear esteemed customer, we regret to inform you of a total system collapse on the national grid at 10:40 am today, leading to outages across our network. We are closely monitoring the situation with our TCN partners to determine the cause and a timeline for resolution,” EKEDC said.

Enugu Electricity Distribution Plc, another DisCo, said its customers in five states have no power supply.

“The Enugu Electricity Distribution PLC (EEDC) wishes to inform her esteemed customers in the South East of a general system collapse which occurred this morning, Monday, 14th March, 2022 at 10:40 am,” Emeka Ezeh, Head of Corporate Communications, said in a statement.

“This is the reason for the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. Consequently, all our outgoing feeders are out and supply to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states are affected by this development.

“We are on standby and awaiting signal from the National Control Centre (NCC) for restoration of supply,” he said.

Similarly, Kaduna Electric also confirmed the national grid collapse via its Twitter handle.

“We regret to inform you that the power outage being experienced in our franchise states is sue to system collapse of the national grid,” the post reads.

Felix Ofulue, Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, told NAN that its customers were affected by the system collapse but “supply has now been restored”. (New Telegraph)