Many parts of Nigeria have been plunged into darkness again as the country’s national grid collapsed for the 11th time this year.
A message from Jos Disco to its customers confirmed that the grid collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.
The message which was signed by the company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Friday Elijah, reads:
“PUBLIC NOTICE
Dear esteemed Customer(s),
The current outage being experienced within our franchise States is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid. The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred this afternoon at about 1333 hours of today, Wednesday, 11th December 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.
“We hope to restore normal power supply to our esteemed customers as soon as the grid supply is restored back to normalcy.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to serve you better.”
Many Nigerians have expressed their frustration on social media, particularly X, formally Twitter. Many of them noted that they have not had electricity for days.
Nairametrics reported the tenth collapse of the grid last month. Hence, today’s collapse is the 11th.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is yet to confirm the reported collapse of the national, while Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company only reported a power outage. Eko Electricity Distribution Company reported “a loss of power supply in our network”.
Statement from EKEDC:
“Dear Valued Customer,
Kindly be informed there was a reported case of system disturbance on 11th November, 2024 at 13:32hrs which has resulted to a loss of power supply across our network.
“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as power supply is restored.
Kindly bear with us.”
It should be noted that earlier this week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) reportedly directed gas producers to stop supplying gas to indebted generation companies (GenCos).
What you should know
The collapse of the national grid was reported by the Jos Disco.
- NMDPRA’s threat to discontinue the supply of gas to GenCos could cause a blackout in the jurisdictions of the affected gencos.
- According to reports, the federal government and some GenCos owe over N2 trillion in legacy debts to gas producers in Nigeria.
- The NMDPRA has called on gas off-takers, particularly power generation companies, to ensure timely payment for the gas supplied.
The TCN and the Ministry of Power are yet to react to the situation.