The Transmission Company of Nigeria has challenged the explanation given by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company regarding the blackout experienced in parts of Kogi State. Earlier, AEDC attributed the electricity disruption to what it described as scheduled maintenance involving a 100MVA power transformer at the Apo 132kV facility. According to the distribution company, communities such as Zango, Shetima, Apansede, Phase 1, Phase 2, Crown Estate, and surrounding areas in Kogi State were impacted by the outage. In response, TCN refuted this claim, stating that no such maintenance exercise took place at its Apo 132kV Transmission Substation during the period mentioned by AEDC. A statement released by TCN’s spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, clarified that the company had already completed a maintenance operation at the Apo substation on April 30, 2026. The intervention became necessary after an emergency situation involving arcing detected on a transformer bushing, which required the equipment to be temporarily taken offline. TCN emphasized that the maintenance conducted on that date was successfully concluded and was not linked to the recent outage affecting AEDC customers in Kogi. The transmission company further stressed that the blackout reported in the listed areas could not be traced to its operations. “This indicates that the power disruption experienced by customers within the areas highlighted in AEDC’s announcement was not caused by TCN,” the statement explained. The development highlights ongoing concerns within Nigeria’s power sector, where responsibility for outages is often disputed between generation, transmission, and distribution companies, leaving consumers uncertain about the true cause of electricity interruptions.
