Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this in a statement shared on Facebook on Friday, explaining that the issues had reduced electricity generation on the national grid, forcing operators to ration power supply in affected areas.
According to him, the first generating units affected by the maintenance were expected to return to operation within 48 to 72 hours, while other units would be restored in phases.
Tegbe explained that planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, alongside limited gas supplies to some thermal power plants, had significantly reduced the volume of electricity available on the national grid.
He also identified damage to critical transmission infrastructure as another factor worsening the situation, noting that the affected lines had limited the ability of operators to reroute electricity to certain locations, particularly Lagos.
The minister said the ministry was working with relevant stakeholders in the power sector to improve gas deliveries to generating plants and accelerate repairs to damaged transmission infrastructure.
He apologised to affected households and businesses, assuring Nigerians that further updates would be provided as electricity supply gradually improves.
The latest development comes after Tegbe, on November 4, directed the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) and electricity distribution companies to address operational challenges responsible for declining power generation.
Meanwhile, NISO had separately blamed the electricity shortfall on inadequate gas supplies to thermal power plants and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs.
The outages have also triggered a disagreement between TCN and Ikeja Electric, following the transmission company’s rejection of the distributor’s claim that grid instability was responsible for the disruptions.
