Residents and businesses in Lagos woke up to another day of flickering lights and silent generators on Tuesday, as Ikeja Electric confirmed a sharp drop in electricity supply caused by a nationwide collapse in power generation.
In a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communications, Kingsley Okotie, the distribution company blamed the crisis squarely on insufficient gas supply to the country’s thermal power plants, which form the backbone of Nigeria’s electricity generation.
“The ongoing reduction in electricity supply is largely due to a nationwide drop in power generation, caused by limited gas supply to thermal power plants,” Okotie said. “This has significantly reduced the energy available on the national grid and, consequently, the allocation to Ikeja Electric and other distribution companies.”
The fallout has been immediate and widespread: intermittent outages, aggressive load shedding, and darkened neighborhoods from Ikeja to Ikorodu and Agege to Lekki. Factories have scaled back operations, small businesses have resorted to costly diesel generators, and households have endured long hours without power—a familiar but increasingly frustrating reality for Lagosians already grappling with high living costs.
This is not an isolated hiccup. Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) shows that power generation on the national grid has repeatedly dipped below 4,000 megawatts (MW) in recent weeks, plunging as low as 3,940 MW on some days.
Thermal plants, which rely on natural gas, require over 1,600 million standard cubic feet (mmscf) of gas daily to run at full capacity. Yet supplies have hovered around 40–43% of that volume, forcing multiple generating units to shut down or operate at severely reduced levels.
The root causes run deep. A mounting debt crisis in the power sector—reportedly exceeding N3.3 trillion and climbing toward N6 trillion when including subsidies and shortfalls—has led gas suppliers to slash deliveries or threaten outright cut-offs. Earlier maintenance shutdowns on key gas infrastructure only compounded the problem.
Nigeria, despite boasting vast gas reserves, remains chronically unable to channel fuel efficiently to its power plants, exposing the fragility of an electricity system that depends overwhelmingly on gas-fired generation.
Okotie expressed regret for the inconvenience and appealed for patience, assuring customers that Ikeja Electric would distribute whatever limited power reaches its network as “equitably and efficiently as possible.” He added that the company remains hopeful that ongoing national efforts to stabilize gas supply will yield results soon.
Yet the statement has done little to quell growing anger on the streets of Lagos. Residents and business owners interviewed in recent days described nights without fans in sweltering heat, spoiled food in fridges, and disrupted work—all while electricity bills continue to arrive with clockwork regularity.
“This is not new, but it keeps getting worse,” said one shop owner in Ikeja who declined to be named. “We pay for darkness.”
The Ikeja Electric update comes amid broader warnings that the power crisis could deepen further if the gas supply dispute is not urgently resolved. Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu has pledged government intervention, but analysts note that structural issues, including massive sector indebtedness, infrastructure bottlenecks, and over-reliance on a single fuel source, will require more than short-term fixes.
For now, Lagosians are once again left to improvise: fueling generators, negotiating with neighbors for shared power, or simply enduring the blackout. As Okotie urged patience, many are wondering how much longer that patience can last in a city that powers the nation’s economy yet struggles to keep its own lights on.
Efforts at the national level to restore gas flows continue, but until meaningful generation rebounds, intermittent supply and load shedding appear set to remain the unwelcome norm across Ikeja Electric’s franchise area and beyond.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The ongoing poor electricity supply across Lagos is primarily caused by insufficient gas supply to Nigeria’s thermal power plants, which has triggered a nationwide drop in power generation and forced widespread load shedding by Ikeja Electric.
Despite the company’s commitment to equitable distribution of the limited power available, residents and businesses continue to suffer intermittent outages until gas supply to the national grid is significantly improved.
