From Attah Ede, Makurdi

The national grid collapsed once again yesterday throwing the entire nation into darkness.

The latest grid collapse makes it a record eighth time this year alone, despite huge investments in the country’s power sector.

The country recorded more than 93 cases of grid collapse during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2023.

This persistent grid collapse has led to frequent blackouts, impacting businesses and daily life across the country.

Reacting to the development, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) yesterday attributed it to “a partial disturbance at about 1.

A statement by TCN’s General Manager Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said the data from the National Control Centre (NCC) revealed that a part of the grid was not affected by the bulk power disruption.

She, however, did not specify which part of the grid was not affected by the disruption.

Mbah assured that TCN engineers were already working to restore bulk power supply to the states affected by the “partial disturbance.”

According to her, the TCN was able to restore bulk power supply to Abuja at 2.49 pm, and that the company was gradually restoring power to other parts of the country.

”We sincerely apologise for every inconvenience this may cause our electricity customers, ”she said.

Nigeria had, in the past decade, secured about 10 loans totaling about  $4.36 billion from the World Bank to address challenges in the sector.

But there has not been any significant improvement even with additional funds from multilateral and donor agencies.

This has heightened speculations that a sizable chunk of the loans may not have been disbursed for the purposes for which they were obtained.

The frequent fluctuations in power supply have continued to take a toll on industrial and domestic consumers leaving frustration and low productivity in the aftermath.

The Bola Tinubu administration has continued to seek additional World Bank loans, securing $1.901 billion in new funds since he assumed office in June 2023.

The administration has also been making frantic efforts to expand the nation’s energy options through renewable energy projects.

The government has also initiated massive solar energy extension, especially to rural communities across the country to bridge the gaping power gaps.

With a population estimated to be more than 200 million, Nigeria has not been able to exceed 5000 Megawatts at any period in the past 10 years despite assurances by successive administrations.

More disturbing to Nigerians is the astronomical increase in electricity tariffs across the board, peaking above 400 percent with the last hike that was affected earlier in the year.

Reacting to the latest supply disruption, the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), said the reoccurring national power grid collapse was hindering the company’s capacity to supply adequate and constant power to its franchise areas.

Citing the case of Benue State and other areas, the Head, Corporate Communications of JEDC, Dr Elijah Adakole, on Tuesday, said that the disruption had affected Benue State badly.

Adakole, in a statement, said loss of power supply from the national grid occurred Tuesday afternoon at about 1:52pm cutting power supply on all the company’s feeders.

“We hope to restore normal power supply to our esteemed customers as soon as the grid supply is restored back to normalcy.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to serve you better”, the statement added.