Power supply to improve in 72 hours — Minister

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has said electricity supply will begin to improve within 48 to 72 hours as the Federal Government works to address generation and transmission constraints responsible for recent outages in parts of the country.

The assurance was made in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday, acknowledging the strain the outages have placed on households and businesses, ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE EXPLANATION

Tegbe attributed the worsening electricity situation to planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, Nigeria’s largest thermal power generating station in Lagos, which supplies about 16% of the total electricity on the national grid.

“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.

He added that the sabotage of critical transmission lines had restricted the use of alternative routes to supply electricity to some locations, particularly Lagos.

THE PROMISE

Tegbe said his ministry was working with relevant operators to restore affected generating units in phases, improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to damaged infrastructure.

“My team and I are working to return the affected generating units to service in phases, with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours,” he said.

THE HISTORICAL IRONY

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This is not the first time Nigerians have been promised that power will improve within a specific timeframe. And it is not the first time the promise has been made by an APC-led administration.

During the Jonathan administration, the APC and its leaders, including Babatunde Fashola, now Minister of Works, repeatedly criticised the government for failing to provide stable electricity.

They promised that an APC government would fix the power sector within months.

More than a decade later, the grid remains fragile. The promises have changed. The ministers have changed. The darkness has not.

WHY IT MATTERS

The minister’s promise is a familiar one.

Nigerians have heard it before. They have heard it from successive administrations. They have heard it from ministers who have come and gone.

And they have heard it from a government that has spent billions of dollars on the power sector without delivering the stable electricity it promised.

The 72-hour window will come and go. If the lights come back on, the minister will be vindicated. If they do not, the promise will join the long list of broken promises that have defined Nigeria’s power sector.

The people are waiting. The clock is ticking. And the darkness continues. ValidViewNetwork reports.