Aba Plunged into Darkness after 60 Days of Uninterrupted Power Supply as Gas Shortage Happens
- Aba, the commercial and industrial centre of the South East, has been thrown into darkness after 60 days of uninterrupted power
- The development came as Geometric Power, Nigeria’s first integrated power company, reported gas shortages
- Residents say the sudden outage has disrupted business and commercial activities in the areas served by Aba Power
Pascal Oparada is a journalist with Legit.ng, covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.
After an unprecedented 60 days of uninterrupted electricity, parts of Abia State have experienced their first blackout under Geometric Power’s service.
The outage, which began around 4:33 a.m. on Thursday, marks a temporary setback in what had become Nigeria’s most successful local power supply story.
Source: Getty Images
Edise Ekong, Senior Brand and Communications Manager of Aba Power Electricity Company Ltd, the distribution arm of Geometric Power, confirmed the incident in a statement.
Gas shortage blamed for the sudden blackout
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He explained that the blackout was due to a disruption in gas supply from Heirs Energies, a key partner in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) joint venture operating Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 in Owaza, Ukwa West Local Government Area.
Ekong said the outage affected customers in nine of the 17 local government areas under Aba Power’s coverage.
“We are sorry that our customers who have enjoyed stable power for the past 60 days have been without supply since 4:33 a.m. due to what Heirs Energies described as a ‘facility trip’,” he said.
He assured residents that Geometric Power was in close collaboration with its gas suppliers to restore electricity to the Aba Ring-fenced Area as soon as possible.
National grid backup not yet available
Addressing why Geometric Power could not switch to the national grid for backup, Ekong explained that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) recently completed a new substation dedicated to Geometric Power but had not yet commissioned it.
“Our engineers are currently working with TCN to complete the final tests. We expect commissioning to happen very soon given the urgency of the situation in Aba and surrounding areas,” he added.
The industrial city of Aba, often called Nigeria’s manufacturing heartbeat, hosts thousands of small and large-scale enterprises.
Many of these businesses had begun to thrive again thanks to Geometric’s reliable power supply, which had dramatically reduced their dependence on diesel generators.
Praise for Geometric Power’s historic feat
Industry observers have applauded Geometric Power for achieving what no other electricity distribution company (DisCo) in Nigeria has managed—two straight months of uninterrupted electricity.
“This is a significant milestone,” said energy expert Cliff Eneh, a former engineer with Texas Power and Light in Dallas and retired senior engineer at the defunct NEPA.
“If not for the gas shortage and bureaucratic delays within TCN, I believe Geometric Power would have sustained continuous power supply for years.”
Eneh also commended the sophistication of Geometric Power’s infrastructure and the commitment of its workforce.
“When I visited their facilities recently, I was impressed by both the technology and the technical expertise behind it,” he noted.
Hope for quick restoration of Aba power
Despite the setback, optimism remains high among residents and industry experts that power will be restored soon.
The temporary outage, they say, should not overshadow Geometric Power’s achievement of rewriting Nigeria’s electricity narrative, turning Aba into a model for reliable, locally driven power generation and distribution.
Source: Getty Images
Last December, Aba Power, celebrated the first 30 days of uninterrupted power, the first Nigerian DisCo to achieve the feat.
Nigeria to introduce pay-as-you-go electricity payment
Legit.ng earlier reported that as part of its efforts to discontinue government-sponsored subsidies for the sector, the federal government has announced plans to implement a pay-as-you-go model for electricity consumption payments.
Wale Edun, the minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, made the announcement on Thursday during a media briefing in Abuja. The minister also revealed that, during the first half of the year, the amount of revenue allotted to subnational governments jumped from N2.1 trillion to nearly N7 trillion.
According to him, the sum includes the backlog of other unpaid statutory allocations to the states, monthly receipts, and 1.8% of the GDP.
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
