The federal government has called upon the leadership of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to address the ongoing poor power supply in their respective service areas.
Additionally, Sule Abdulazeez, Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has been summoned for the same purpose.
In recent months, electricity supply across the nation, particularly in the nation’s capital and other regions, has deteriorated significantly, with distribution companies attributing the prolonged blackout to gas constraints affecting generating companies (GenCos).
Bolaji Tunji, Special Adviser on Strategic Communications and Media Relations to the Minister of Power, disclosed in a statement that despite mounting pressure on GenCos to increase output, power supply has not improved as expected.
“These two DisCos have been summoned due to the worsening power supply situation in their regions despite improved supply from TCN,” Tunji stated. “So, we expect power supply to have improved across the country, unlike what we are experiencing in some regions presently.”
Tunji revealed that investigations have uncovered instances where distribution companies have deliberately declined power supply from TCN. Moreover, vandalism of power lines has been reported in regions including Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of non-compliant DisCos, the Minister of Power has threatened them with “outright licence revocation.”
Furthermore, the minister has directed TCN to commence repair work on damaged transmission lines to mitigate the impact of the ongoing power supply crisis.
According to the media aide, despite challenges such as gas shortages, recent efforts have seen power generation ramped up to over 4000MW in recent days.