The Federal Government has blamed the shortage in supply of gas to power turbines and maintenance of generators for the blackout being experienced across the country. However, it announced that the national grid, which collapsed leading to a nationwide blackout, “is back and we are trying to get more megawatts to push on the grid”. Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, made the explanation on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, while briefing newsmen after the weekly FEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. According to him, there is a shortage of gas because of vandalisation of pipelines.
However, he said it has been addressed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Aliyu also said the Council approved N5 billion for the expansion of electricity supply to some areas in Lagos and Ogun states. Responding to a question on the persistent blackouts in the country, the minister said:
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“The more reason we are facing the situation now is as a result of the shortage of gas and some of the generators have to go to maintenance. “It is scheduled maintenance and it is supposed to be scheduled outage but we had not envisaged that we will have issues around vandalisation of pipelines which the NNPC has addressed.
“You can see evidence everywhere, aviation fuel and petrol in the filling stations. It is a combination of many factors. That compounded the problem we are having on the grid. “We have recovered the grid now. The grid is back and we are trying to get more megawatts to push on the grid. We have set up small committees all geared towards getting more megawatts to put on the grid. Basically, the problem is around gas. “We have a capacity of 8,000 megawatts – the one on the grid, embedded and captive.
If you combine all of them, you will get these problems that we are encountering. We are on top of the challenge and very soon, we will come out of it. “We have gotten approval now of N5 billion from FEC to open up and expand – Lagos/ Ogun where presently, they may not be enjoying quality electricity. We need to do this more.”
“You can see evidence everywhere, aviation fuel and petrol in the filling stations. It is a combination of many factors. That compounded the problem we are having on the grid. “We have recovered the grid now. The grid is back and we are trying to get more megawatts to push on the grid. We have set up small committees all geared towards getting more megawatts to put on the grid. Basically, the problem is around gas. “We have a capacity of 8,000 megawatts – the one on the grid, embedded and captive.
If you combine all of them, you will get these problems that we are encountering. We are on top of the challenge and very soon, we will come out of it. “We have gotten approval now of N5 billion from FEC to open up and expand – Lagos/ Ogun where presently, they may not be enjoying quality electricity. We need to do this more.”
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