Blackout persists despite completion of gas plant maintenance

Nigerians are facing widespread electricity shortages despite the completion of scheduled maintenance on key gas-fired power plants, highlighting deeper systemic challenges in the country’s power sector.

The maintenance, conducted by major gas suppliers including Seplat Energy and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) subsidiaries, temporarily shut down gas deliveries to several thermal power plants, reducing national generation by up to 935 megawatts (MW).

“This situation arises from a formal notification received on the scheduled maintenance shutdown of a major gas supply facility,” the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) said in a statement on February 13, adding that full gas supply would resume on February 16.

However, weeks later, grid generation remains constrained, hovering around 4,300MW, far below the estimated national demand.

The cuts triggered structured load shedding across Africa’s most populous nation, though NISO said priority would be given to critical infrastructure and essential services; the reality has been different.

“We used to have members of the Saudi Arabian royal family travelling all the way to University College Hospital, Ibadan to receive treatment during the early 70’s. Today, that same hospital is on strike because they don’t have light and water,” said Chinonso Egemba, a medical professional.

The maintenance directly impacted some of Nigeria’s largest thermal power stations, including the 1,320MW Egbin plant, the country’s biggest, as well as Azura, Sapele and Transcorp facilities.

Three additional plants, NDPHC Sapele, Olorunsogo and Omotosho, may face “indirect constraints due to network-wide gas balancing effects,” NISO said.

Nigeria’s electricity sector has long been plagued by insufficient generation capacity, ageing infrastructure and chronic gas supply disruptions. The national grid, which frequently experiences total or partial collapses, rarely generates more than half of its installed capacity of roughly 13,000MW, forcing businesses and households to rely heavily on diesel and petrol generators.

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Gas supply constraints are a recurring problem. Nigeria holds Africa’s largest natural gas reserves, but much of the output is exported or flared rather than directed to domestic power generation.

Oil and gas companies flared an estimated 323.2 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas in 2025,” data from the Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor, corroborated by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), showed.

This development highlights persistent inefficiencies in Nigeria’s upstream operations and ongoing challenges in fully commercialising associated gas resources.

Analysts said gas pipeline vandalism, operational inefficiencies and the financial struggles of power generation companies further compound the challenge.

Discos continued load shedding as a result, while businesses and households increasingly rely on costly diesel generators. Small and medium enterprises report production disruptions, with electricity costs rising amid erratic supply.

“Never have I experienced such a backward power supply in this country. Since late November, everything has scattered,” Jide Taiwo, a Web developer. He said the president, minister of power and Ibadan DisCo are a huge disappointment to the power sector.

Electricity workers activate strike

The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has intensified mobilisation of its members across the country for a possible nationwide strike next week, following the expiration of its 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government without a resolution of its grievances.

In a letter dated January 26, 2026, and addressed to the Minister of Power, the union issued a strike notice accusing power sector employers, particularly distribution companies (Discos) and generation companies (Gencos), of widespread anti-labour practices, wage violations and failure to remit deducted Pay As You Earn (PAYE) taxes and pension contributions.

With the ultimatum now lapsed and no concrete action taken, union sources said mobilisation efforts have been stepped up across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), warning that industrial action could be declared at any moment.

Sources disclosed that the Minister of Labour and Employment had intervened about two weeks ago and scheduled a meeting for last week. However, it was gathered that the Minister of Power insisted the matter fell strictly within his ministry’s jurisdiction.

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Union officials expressed frustration that nearly two weeks after that development, no meeting has been convened by the power ministry, alleging that the minister has yet to address the looming crisis.

Irked by what they described as government inaction, the union leadership has begun mobilising workers across generation plants and distribution networks in preparation for a possible strike.

“We demand the immediate resolution of all these anti-labour issues. Otherwise, we will not hesitate to employ any legitimate labour action suitable for the situation. This is not a threat,” the notice stated.

Industry analysts warned that a nationwide strike by electricity workers could significantly disrupt power generation and distribution, with wide-ranging implications for businesses, households and an economy already battling energy supply constraints.

In the earlier letter signed by NUEE’s Acting General Secretary, Igwebike Dominic, the union lamented worsening working conditions more than 12 years after the privatisation of the sector.

“We have written several letters to your highly exalted office on precarious work in NESI, especially in Gencos and Discos, since the privatisation of the electricity sector, but the Ministry seems not to be interested in the matter,” the letter said.

The union also accused employers of refusing to negotiate and implement collective agreements, failing to honour conditions of service, and not complying with the 2025 National Minimum Wage Act and its consequential wage adjustments.

TCN upgrade triggers month-long daily blackouts in Benin

Residents and businesses in several parts of Benin City will face daily electricity disruptions for more than a month following a planned transmission shutdown affecting four major feeders under the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).

In a notice issued on Tuesday, the distribution company said the outage is linked to scheduled construction works by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on the 330kV Benin/Ajaokuta Line 2 (Cct. 2BEN-AJK2) at the Ihovbor 330kV Transmission Station.

“Please be informed that a planned outage has been scheduled on the 330kV Benin/Ajaokuta Line 2 (Cct. 2BEN-AJK2) at Ihovbor 330kV Transmission Station to enable critical construction works by the Transmission Company of Nigeria,” Benin DisCo stated.

The maintenance window will run from 8:00 a.m. on Friday, 27 February 2026, through 31 March 2026, with work scheduled daily between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.