FG Restores Power to Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara, FCT After Transmission Line Repair

The Federal Government has announced the restoration of electricity supply to several areas in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory following disruptions caused partly by the vandalism of a critical 330-kilovolt transmission line.

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed this in an update shared on social media on Monday, confirming that the vandalised Benin-Egbin transmission line had been repaired and returned to service.

According to the minister, the restoration has increased electricity supply to the Lagos Complex to more than 1,000 megawatts, returning the system to the level recorded before the disruption.

Tegbe said electricity had been restored to many of the affected locations, while technical teams were continuing efforts to improve supply in areas still experiencing disruptions.

“I would like to report that power has since been restored to many of the areas earlier affected by power disruptions, largely in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and the FCT. Our teams continue to work to restore full supply to the remaining affected locations,” he said.

He explained that repairing the Benin-Egbin 330kV transmission line had improved the movement of electricity into the Lagos transmission network.

“The vandalised Benin-Egbin 330kV power line has also been swiftly repaired and deployed to transmit power. This restoration helped to bring the total power supply to the Lagos Complex to over 1,000 megawatts, effectively normalising to the condition before the disruption,” the minister added.

Tegbe said the Ministry of Power was working with electricity generation companies, the system operator, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and distribution companies to prevent further deterioration in electricity supply.

The latest development follows an earlier explanation by the minister that planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station, inadequate gas supply to some thermal power plants and damage to critical transmission infrastructure had combined to reduce electricity available on the national grid.

In a statement issued last Friday, Tegbe acknowledged the difficulties caused by the outages, particularly for households and businesses in Lagos and the FCT.

He explained that the maintenance activities and gas supply constraints had reduced electricity generation, forcing grid operators to introduce load shedding in some areas to manage the available supply.

The minister also said the vandalism of key transmission lines had restricted alternative routes for delivering electricity, particularly to Lagos.

Meanwhile, Tegbe disclosed that the government was working to restore another major transmission route, the Osogbo-Ikeja West 330kV line, which has reportedly remained out of service for about 18 months.

Speaking during a television programme, he said the restoration of the line could provide an additional 400 megawatts of electricity to Lagos.

However, the project has faced challenges following the vandalism of approximately six transmission towers located in a swampy area.

Tegbe said the government had secured a commitment from TCN to complete the restoration by the end of November.

The repair of the Benin-Egbin line represents an improvement in electricity transmission to Lagos, although the government is still working to address other infrastructure challenges affecting reliable power supply.