Power Crisis: TCN Slams Ikeja Electric Over ‘Misleading’ Outage Claims
For thousands of electricity consumers in Lagos, the frustration of paying for premium Band A electricity without enjoying the promised hours of supply has deepened.
Now, two major players in Nigeria’s power sector are trading blame over who is responsible for the outages.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has strongly rejected claims by Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) that grid instability caused recent power interruptions affecting several Band A feeders, describing the allegation as inaccurate and misleading.
In a statement issued on Friday, 6 November 2026, TCN accused the distribution company of wrongly blaming its transmission network for electricity shortages caused largely by declining power generation.
The dispute followed a public notice issued by Ikeja Electric on 5 November, attributing outages recorded on 3 and 4 November to grid instability.
However, TCN insisted that the real problem was insufficient electricity generation, rather than transmission equipment failure.
“TCN can only transmit the energy made available to it and cannot transmit energy that is not generated,” the company stated.
Citing a clarification by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), TCN explained that gas supply shortages to thermal power plants and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs had lowered national electricity generation.
According to the company, the generation shortfall has forced reductions in electricity allocations to distribution companies, resulting in increased load shedding and fewer hours of supply to consumers.
TCN also challenged Ikeja Electric’s authority to determine the causes of national grid disturbances, citing Section 67 of the Electricity Act 2023, which it said places that responsibility on NISO.
Backing its position with operational records, TCN disclosed that 68 per cent of interruptions recorded on feeders supplying Ikeja Electric on 1 and 2 November resulted from frequency-control load shedding caused by low generation.
Another 26 per cent were linked to Ikeja Electric’s failure to comply with load allocations or faults and maintenance on its distribution network.
The remaining six per cent involved planned TCN maintenance, switching operations or transmission line limitations.
TCN maintained that none of the recorded interruptions resulted from its equipment faults or trips.
Of 46 interruptions examined on the 33kV feeders identified in Ikeja Electric’s notice, 29 were attributed to low generation, 14 to Ikeja Electric-related issues and three to scheduled TCN maintenance.
The company cited the Rack Centre feeder, where a cable fault on Ikeja Electric’s network reportedly caused an interruption that was subsequently repaired by the distribution company’s crew.
TCN warned that blaming generation shortages on transmission failures could mislead electricity consumers and undermine confidence in the power sector.
It urged distribution companies to rely on verified information from NISO when explaining supply disruptions to customers.
While sympathising with affected consumers, TCN reaffirmed its commitment to transmitting all available electricity safely and efficiently.
The disagreement comes amid growing concerns over electricity reliability, particularly for Band A customers who pay higher tariffs in exchange for a minimum of 20 hours of daily power supply.
For affected households and businesses, however, the pressing question remains: when will reliable electricity return, regardless of which company is responsible?
Source: Transmission Company of Nigeria, statement dated 6 November 2026.
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