To address the ongoing system breakdowns, Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, established a forensic investigating group.

According to a statement from the minister’s media assistant, Bolaji Tunji, Adelabu called an emergency meeting this weekend with the leadership of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Transmission Company of Nigeria because he was concerned about the national grid disruption that had ‘twice’ put parts of the country in the dark in the last week.

The event was “capable of rubbishing the giant strides made in the last one year which has led to an increased generation and distribution of 5, 527 megawatts, a record generation in three years,” the minister stated, expressing his disgust.

In addition to the government’s ongoing initiatives, such as the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project and the Presidential Power Initiatives, Adelabu established a forensic investigation committee whose job it is to advise the government on the solutions required to make the national grid strong and dependable.

Part of the statement said, “The committee is also tasked with determining the underlying cause of both incidents, particularly a review of potential system sabotage.”

It was said that the Committee would conduct a comprehensive assessment of the stability of the national grid and determine the technological capabilities and investments needed to make the grid intelligent and robust.

“To prevent future grid disruptions, a technical team has also been deployed to access the national grid’s critical nodes in order to identify potential vulnerabilities and provide recommendations to address these vulnerabilities,” the statement stated.

According to the ministry, a line tripping at the Jebba Transmission Substation and a reoccurring fault at the Osogbo Transmission Substation caused a partial collapse on Monday, October 14.

He claimed that although attempts to restore the grid had a setback the next day, the system was entirely restored on Wednesday, October 16.

“The setback was a continuation of Monday’s system repair work, therefore there was no grid breakdown on Tuesday as was generally believed.

Additionally, the grid collapse that was reported on Saturday, October 19, was a purposeful protective shutdown brought on by the Jebba transformer explosion. And after two hours, this was fixed. We had more grid disruptions than collapses, Adelabu revealed.

According to a preliminary analysis of the Jebba tragedy, he noted, the explosion was caused by ageing equipment that had nothing to do with the first fall.

Engr. Nafisat Ali, the Executive Director of Independent System Operator; Dr. Chidi Ike, the Commissioner of NERC; Engr. Ishola, the General Manager of the National Control Centre; Engr. Emmanuel Nosike, the Director of Transmission, Federal Ministry of Power; Engr. Ali Sharifai, the General Manager of Transmission Service Provider; and Mr. Adedayo Olowoniyi, the Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power, make up the six-member committee.

It is anticipated that by November 1, 2024, the team will deliver a report to the minister.