The Federal Government says electricity supply has improved across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states, and the Federal Capital Territory, following repairs to the vandalised Benin-Egbin 330-kilovolt transmission line.
Power Minister Joseph Tegbe said on Monday, November 9, that supply to the Lagos Complex had risen above 1,000 megawatts, returning to its pre-disruption level.
“I would like to report that power has since been restored to many of the areas earlier affected by power disruptions, largely in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and the FCT. Our teams continue to work to restore full supply to the remaining affected locations.
“The vandalised Benin-Egbin 330kV power line has also been swiftly repaired and deployed to transmit power.
“This restoration helped to bring the total power supply to the Lagos Complex to over 1,000 megawatts, effectively normalising to the condition before the disruption,” Tegbe said.
He said the ministry was working with generation companies, the system operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and distribution firms to stabilise supply across the affected networks.
The outages followed maintenance at Egbin Power Station, gas shortages at thermal plants and damage to transmission infrastructure. Tegbe said the constraints had reduced electricity available on the national grid.
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“Planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal power stations have reduced the amount of electricity available on the national grid.
“Grid operators have, therefore, implemented load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall,” he said.
Tegbe said TCN was repairing the Osogbo-Ikeja West 330kV line, out of service for about 18 months.
The route could supply Lagos with an additional 400MW, but about six towers were vandalised in a swampy area. TCN has pledged to complete repairs by the end of November.
The minister said maintenance at Egbin and damage to the Benin-Egbin line had cut nearly 800MW from Lagos’ supply system.
The repairs offer relief but do not guarantee uninterrupted electricity. Consumers and civil society groups continue to criticise outages, with some calling for Tegbe’s resignation.
“Our priority continues to be the provision of reliable electricity to Nigerians,” the minister said.
First Daily reports that large parts of the country has experienced prolonged period blackouts in past few weeks, drawing outcries from citizens.