Grid collapse a ‘national shame’ – Peter Obi

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last election, Peter Obi, has described Nigeria’s electricity grid collapse as “a national shame.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Nigeria’s electricity grid collapsed yet again, throwing several cities into darkness.

The grid collapsed around 9:17 a.m. with generation dropping significantly.

In a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, Mr Obi described the incident as the failure of leadership and policy implementation.

“For the umpteenth time, the national grid has collapsed, plunging a huge part of the nation into darkness and exposing the fragility of Nigeria’s power infrastructure. This recurring disaster is a national shame and a glaring testament to the failure of leadership and policy implementation at the highest levels.

“How long must Nigerians endure a system that fails to provide one of the critical necessities for a productive society?” Mr Obi said.

He said this latest power grid collapse is emblematic of a leadership and government that have consistently failed to prioritise the welfare and economic well-being of the people.

“We all know the immense importance of power supply to the transformation of our economy. Its support to SMEs, which are the engine of job creation and a major contributor to our GDP, is immeasurable.

“Today, we are the fourth largest economy in Africa, having fallen from the number one position due to leadership failure over the years, including the persistent power crisis, which is critical when compared to smaller economies,” he added.

He explained that South Africa, which is now the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of about $400 billion and 30 per cent of our population, generates and distributes over 40,000 megawatts of electricity.

Secondly, he said Egypt, the second largest economy with a GDP of about $350 billion and half of Nigeria’s population, generates and distributes over 40,000 megawatts.

“Algeria, the third largest economy, with about 300B GDP and 20 per cent of our population, generates and distributes over 50,000 megawatts of electricity.

“Nigeria, with less GDP but with more population than the 3 countries combined, generates and distributes less than 10,000 megawatts, and even that is riddled with frequent collapses and crises of failure,” he said.

He said this disparity in power generation is a reflection of the deep-rooted governance deficit that continues to hold back our growth and potential.

“It is time for urgent, comprehensive reform. Nigerians deserve a government that prioritises measurable indices of development,” he said.

TCN speaks

On Tuesday, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), in a statement by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the national grid experienced a partial disturbance on Monday, 14th October 2024, at about 6:48 p.m. and noted that efforts to fully recover the grid are still ongoing.

Ms Mbah said although the recovery of the grid commenced immediately, with Azura power station providing the blackstart, grid recovery reached advanced stages at about 10.24 a.m, Tuesday when it encountered a challenge that caused a slight setback in the recovery process.

“The slight setback notwithstanding, TCN continued with the grid recovery process, which has reached an advanced stage, ensuring bulk power availability to about 90 per cent of its substations nationwide,” Ms Mbah said.

She said supply had been restored to the Abuja axis and other major distribution load centres nationwide.

“The partial disturbance did not affect the Ibom Gas generating station, which was islanded from the grid yesterday and continued to supply areas in the South Southern part of the country such as Eket, Ekim, Uyo, and Itu 132kV transmission Substations during the period.

“Investigation into the cause of the incident will be carried out as soon as the grid is fully restored,” she said.

In recent years, the power sector has experienced many challenges in areas of electricity policy enforcement, regulatory uncertainty, gas supply, transmission system constraints, and significant power sector planning shortfalls.