The Federal Government has committed to a concrete timeline to end the severe power disruptions crippling businesses and homes across the country, pledging that the first batch of offline thermal generating units will return to the national grid within 48 to 72 hours.
Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe disclosed the operational targets in an official status brief on Friday, detailing an emergency technical roadmap to ease widespread blackouts driven by severe fuel constraints and vital generation downtime.
The current systemic shortfall has left key economic hubs, particularly Lagos State, operating under severe load-shedding schedules as generation capacities dropped significantly below contracted baselines.
According to the Minister, the supply contraction stemmed directly from feedstock shortfalls across major thermal generation stations, compounded by scheduled, comprehensive maintenance operations underway at the Egbin Power Plant.
Tegbe stated that the administration has commenced technical remediation alongside major operators to expedite infrastructure repairs and unlock constrained gas pipelines feeding the turbines.
“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,” the Minister confirmed.
“We are also working with operators to improve gas supply and accelerate repairs to the damaged infrastructure,” he noted.
The supply contraction has intensified friction across the electricity value chain, exposing distribution franchisees to regulatory pressure over failing service agreements.
Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company had cited upstream grid volatility as the primary impediment preventing it from delivering the mandatory 20-hour daily supply guaranteed to premium Band A customers.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria rejected the distributor’s claims, maintaining that wheeling operations reflect the quantum of energy delivered by generation companies rather than unilateral transmission throttling.
With manufacturing plants and commercial enterprises absorbing mounting private generation costs, attention shifts to whether the phased technical intervention will beat the 72-hour benchmark and stabilize the national grid.
