…With the DisCos pointing to TCN, TCN relying on NISO’s assessment, and NNPC defending its transportation infrastructure, Nigerians are left confronting a familiar question: who, ultimately, is accountable when electricity fails to reach their homes and businesses?
By G&B Journal Correspondents
SUN NOV 08 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s worsening and recent electricity crisis has triggered a fresh round of recriminations among key players in the power sector, with distribution companies, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) offering differing explanations for the dwindling supply that has plunged consumers across major cities into darkness.
While electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have blamed inadequate power allocation from TCN for the prolonged outages recorded across their networks, TCN has rejected the allegation, insisting that the problem lies primarily with insufficient electricity generation rather than any failure of its transmission infrastructure.
But the latest intervention by NNPC Limited has introduced another dimension to the controversy, raising fresh questions about where exactly the bottleneck lies between Nigeria’s gas resources and the electricity reaching consumers.
The disagreement follows a clarification issued by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) on November 5, which attributed the decline in electricity generation to constraints in gas availability to thermal power stations and reduced output from hydroelectric stations because of lower reservoir inflows.
NISO explained that the reduced generation had affected the quantity of electricity available for allocation to distribution companies, resulting in fewer hours of supply and increased load shedding across their networks.
The DisCos, however, have largely presented a common explanation to customers, pointing to limited allocation from TCN.
In a public notice, Eko Electricity Distribution Company apologised to customers, saying: “Please be informed that the lack of supply is due to limited allocation generated from the TCN, which has affected the nation as a whole and this cut across our network.”
Ikeja Electric and other distribution companies have similarly attributed the supply shortfall to limitations in the quantity of electricity allocated to them.
TCN, however, has strongly disputed this narrative.
In a statement responding to Ikeja Electric’s November 5 notice, which attributed several Band A feeder outages recorded on November 3 and 4 to “grid instability”, the transmission company described the allegation as inaccurate and misleading.
It argued that determining the root cause of disturbances and interruptions on the national grid falls within the statutory responsibilities of NISO under Section 67 of the Electricity Act 2023, rather than individual distribution companies.
TCN maintained that the available operational records supported NISO’s explanation that reduced generation was responsible for much of the supply shortfall.
According to the transmission company, 68 per cent of interruptions recorded across feeders supplying Ikeja Electric on November 1 and 2 resulted from frequency-control load shedding associated with low generation.
Another 26 per cent, it said, arose from Ikeja Electric’s non-compliance with load allocation or faults and maintenance works on the company’s distribution network. The remaining six per cent involved scheduled TCN maintenance, switching operations or line limitations.
TCN further argued that none of the recorded interruptions resulted from a TCN equipment fault or trip.
“TCN can only transmit the energy made available to it and cannot transmit energy that is not generated,” the company stated.
But if inadequate generation is at the centre of the problem, the question of gas availability becomes unavoidable, given the country’s heavy reliance on gas-fired power stations.
This is where NNPC’s latest clarification becomes significant.
The national oil company has dismissed suggestions that constraints in its gas transportation infrastructure are responsible for the decline in electricity generation, insisting that the network operated by its subsidiary, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited (NGIC), remains available to support deliveries to power stations nationwide.
“NGIC’s operational records do not indicate transportation-related constraints within its network that explain the current decline in electricity generation,” NNPC said.
The company also disclosed that gas production volumes had grown by approximately 10 per cent year-to-date in 2026, attributing the development to efforts under the Federal Government’s gas development and monetisation agenda.
However, NNPC’s clarification stops short of establishing that sufficient gas is actually reaching power-generating stations.
Indeed, the company acknowledged that gas production, commercial supply arrangements and actual deliveries to individual power plants must be assessed separately from the availability of transportation infrastructure.
It also identified the operational readiness of generating units, plant maintenance schedules and actual gas offtake as critical factors in determining how much electricity can ultimately be produced.
That distinction raises a fundamental question: if the gas transportation network is available, are power plants receiving sufficient volumes of gas to operate at their required capacity? And if they are, are the generating stations themselves operating efficiently?
The competing explanations expose the complexity of Nigeria’s electricity supply chain, where gas production, transportation, commercial agreements, power generation, transmission and distribution are interconnected but involve different operators and responsibilities.
An unconstrained gas pipeline does not necessarily translate into adequate gas deliveries. Similarly, available gas does not guarantee that generating plants can convert it into electricity, while sufficient generation does not automatically guarantee efficient distribution to consumers.
NNPC has called for a coordinated review of operational data involving gas suppliers, transporters, power generators and NISO to identify the specific constraints and guide interventions.
Such a review could help establish whether the current crisis is primarily a gas supply problem, a commercial delivery challenge, inadequate generation capacity, or a combination of failures across the value chain.
For millions of electricity consumers, however, the institutional explanations offer little immediate relief. Businesses continue to contend with unreliable electricity, households face prolonged outages, and consumers remain exposed to the additional cost of alternative power sources.
More troubling is the apparent absence of a single, comprehensive account of where the system is failing and who is responsible for fixing it.
With the DisCos pointing to TCN, TCN relying on NISO’s assessment, and NNPC defending its transportation infrastructure, Nigerians are left confronting a familiar question: who, ultimately, is accountable when electricity fails to reach their homes and businesses?
Until the relevant operators provide verifiable data covering actual gas deliveries, generating plant performance, electricity generation, transmission and distribution allocations, the blame game may continue while consumers bear the consequences.
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