Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have offered different explanations for recent electricity interruptions affecting Band A customers in Lagos, following a public disagreement over the causes of supply shortfalls.

In a public notice tweeted on November 6, 2026, and signed the same day, IKEDC apologised to customers on several Band A feeders for falling short of the expected minimum service level of 20 hours of electricity supply. The notice covered interruptions recorded on November 4 and 5 across areas including Ikeja, Shomolu, Oshodi, Akowonjo and Abule Egba.

For most of the affected feeders, IKEDC listed the reason for the interruptions as “outage due to grid instability” and identified TCN as the responsible party. However, the notice also attributed some interruptions to issues involving IKEDC or both organisations. These included 11kV and 33kV faults, power transformer limitations and line maintenance.

TCN rejected IKEDC’s explanation in a press release issued on November 6, describing the attribution of the outages to grid instability and assigning responsibility to TCN as inaccurate and misleading.

The transmission company argued that, under Section 67 of the Electricity Act 2023, determining the root causes of grid disturbances, supply shortfalls and interruptions falls exclusively within the responsibility of the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), rather than individual electricity distribution companies. TCN maintained that NISO had not attributed the outages listed by IKEDC to a failure of its transmission network.

As part of its response, TCN referred to a public clarification issued by NISO on November 5. According to TCN’s account of the statement, the decline in electricity generation was linked to gas supply constraints at thermal power stations and reduced output from hydroelectric stations due to lower reservoir inflows.

TCN said these conditions had reduced the amount of electricity available for allocation to distribution companies, resulting in fewer hours of supply and increased load-shedding. It added that the impact varied across distribution companies depending on available generation and their respective allocations.

The company maintained that the shortfall was a consequence of reduced generation and the resulting electricity allocation, rather than a failure of its transmission network. It said its role was to transmit the electricity made available to it, subject to operational constraints.

To support its position, TCN presented interruption records for feeders supplying IKEDC on November 1 and 2. According to the company, 68% of the recorded interruptions resulted from frequency-control load-shedding caused by low generation. It attributed another 26% to IKEDC’s non-compliance with load allocation from NISO’s National Control Centre, or faults and maintenance work on IKEDC’s own network. The remaining 6%, TCN said were linked to its planned maintenance, switching activities or line limitations.

TCN further stated that none of the recorded interruptions during that period resulted from a fault or trip involving its equipment.

The transmission company also provided a breakdown of 46 interruptions on the 33kV feeders named in IKEDC’s notice. It said 29 were caused by frequency-control load-shedding linked to low generation, while 14 were recorded against IKEDC. Of those 14, TCN attributed nine to non-compliance with load allocation and five to faults or trips on IKEDC’s network. The remaining three interruptions, according to TCN, resulted from scheduled maintenance on the Ogba-Alimosho line on November 1.

TCN also cited the Rack Centre feeder as an example, saying it was interrupted on November 2 following a cable fault on IKEDC’s network, which the distribution company’s crew subsequently repaired.

The figures form part of TCN’s account of the interruptions it reviewed and have not been independently verified against the underlying NISO records or IKEDC’s operational data.

A key detail in the disagreement is that the organisations’ statements do not cover exactly the same reporting periods. IKEDC’s notice covers November 4 and 5, while TCN says the notice was published on November 5 and refers to outages on November 3 and 4. The interruption data TCN presented, however, covers November 1 and 2. Consequently, its figures cannot automatically be treated as a direct explanation for every interruption listed in IKEDC’s notice.

For customers, the disagreement raises questions about why feeders classified under Band A may receive fewer than the expected 20 hours of electricity daily. Band A is a service classification associated with a minimum supply commitment of 20 hours per day, with customers paying tariffs linked to that level of service.

Understanding the responsibilities of the different organisations is important when assessing these interruptions. Generation companies produce electricity, while TCN operates the high-voltage transmission network that moves power towards distribution networks. NISO coordinates the operation of the national grid and manages the allocation of available electricity. Distribution companies, such as IKEDC, deliver that electricity through local networks to homes and businesses.

Load-shedding refers to the deliberate reduction or interruption of electricity supply to certain areas or feeders when available power is insufficient to meet demand or when reductions are required to maintain grid stability. A shortage of generated electricity can therefore affect the amount allocated to a DisCo, while transmission limitations or faults on a distribution network can create additional interruptions.

The next important developments will include any further clarification from NISO, a response from IKEDC addressing TCN’s claims, and any relevant communication from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the monitoring of Band A service commitments.

For now, IKEDC and TCN have presented different accounts of the interruptions, while the available statements leave questions about the specific causes of individual feeder outages.

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