The Transmission Company of Nigeria says the national grid, which collapsed Sunday morning, has been “fully restored.”
The company’s General Manager of Public Affairs released a statement Sunday night, blaming the breakdown on poor gas supply that has led to low power generation “since January 2024.”
“The grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 11:21 hours today with the Ibom Power islanded, feeding Eket, Ekim, Itu & Uyo Transmission Substations, during the period of partial disturbance,” he said.
“Prior to the incident, total generation on the gird was 3,901.25 MW at 08:00 hours, a little over three hours before the time of partial collapse,” he added.
“It is important to note that low power generation has persisted since January 2024, to date, exacerbating daily due to the lingering gas constraint.”
Blackout Remains
The blackout witnessed across Nigeria on Sunday continued into Monday morning despite the transmission company’s announced restoration.
Many parts of Lagos, the country’s most populous state, did not have power from the national grid throughout Sunday afternoon and night.
Many parts remained without electricity on Monday morning.
The grid breaks down often, leading to nationwide blackouts. It collapsed no fewer than seven times in 2022 and three times in 2023.
The crumbling continues despite billions of dollars budgeted for power improvement in Nigeria since the return to democratic governance in 1999.
Billions Spent Without Results
A former minister of power and steel, Olu Agunloye, is on trial for allegedly fraudulently awarding a $6 billion contract for the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003.
He is also accused of taking a kickback from the company that got the contract, Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited.
The company, on the other hand, is in arbitration with Nigeria over an alleged breach of the contract.
Sunrise Power and Transmission wants a $400 million settlement at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
Despite campaigning with a promise to improve power supply and stability, former President Muhammadu Buhari, elected in 2015, did little to ensure Nigerians have steady electricity.
The national grid collapsed 46 times between 2017 and 2023, according to counting done by Business Insider.
A 2019 deal with German electricity giant Siemens to ramp up production to 25,000 MW by 2025 has missed all its deadlines.
Under the Presidential Power Initiative, Siemens was to work with the Transmission Company of Nigeria to achieve a nationwide power supply of 7,000 MW by 2021 and 11,000 MW by 2023.
The total generated power in Nigeria when the grid collapsed on Sunday, 4 February, was under 4,000 MW.
