The Federal Government (FG) has explained the reason behind the collapse of the national grid, which has thrown Nigerians into darkness since Friday.

Disclosing the reason behind the unfortunate incident, the Federal Ministry of Power noted that the current collapse of the national grid was caused by an act of vandalism.

The ministry made this known via a statement issued on Saturday by Isa Sanusi, the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu.

He disclosed that the vandalism occurred at the Odukpani—Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line.

The statement read: “Further to our earlier press release, we wish to apprise the general public that the immediate cause of national blackout (system collapse) was an act of vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani — Ikot Ekpene 330kV double circuit transmission line thus resulting in a sudden loss of about 400MW of generation.

“This consequently led to a cascade of plants shut down across the country.

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“We wish to notify the public that power on the grid is being restored sequentially by the System Operator as other on-grid power plants are being dispatched to cover the lost generation capacity from the Calabar power plant owned by the Niger Power Holding Company Ltd.”

Another statement by the minister’s media aide said the Federal Government has been working to improve the capacity and reliability of the national grid.

“We wish to notify the general public of the incidence of a system collapse which occurred at 1830hrs on April 8th, 2022 resulting in power outages in many parts of the country.

“While a detailed investigation into the immediate and remote causes of the recurring grid failure is currently ongoing by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and System Operator (the operator of the national grid), the process of restoring supply is ongoing with some sections of the national grid already energised and supply restored to consumers.

“We wish to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government is working assiduously to deliver on the much-needed reforms and investments, including SCADA, that are critical to improving the capacity and reliability of the national grid.

“This is in line with the Mr. President’s directives on closing infrastructure deficits in critical sectors of the Nigerian economy,” the statement read.

The Star