Life is becoming increasingly hard in Akwa Ibom State as the collapse of the National Grid has compounded the hardship small businesses are facing in the state. Before now, power supply from Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company has been very epileptic, forcing small businesses to rely on small generators.
Many parts of the state have been living in darkness, and as Effiong Okon Etuk, a town planner said, ‘’without steady public supply of power, small businesses cannot break even.’’
This is even coming as most parts of Nigeria on Tuesday were thrown into darkness following another system collapse of the National Grid.
Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric Plc, Felix Ofulue, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) also confirmed the partial collapse of the grid in a public notice.
The electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) said the collapse of the grid occured at 5.10 p.m on Tuesday. They said the collapse had disrupted power supply within their networks with their customers experiencing blackouts.
“Dear esteemed customers, we would like to inform you of another system collapse on the national grid which occurred at 5:10 p.m today (Tuesday). We are monitoring the situation and will continue to provide updates.
‘’Once again we apologise for the inconvenience’’ Eko DisCo said in a statement.
On his part, Ofulue said Ikeja Electric had received notification of the collapse and was waiting for the grid to be restored.
NAN reports that the collapse is happening barely 48 hours after the national grid collapsed at 10.40 a.m on Monday resulting in blackouts in some parts of the country.
Supply was, however, restored to the grid at 12.20 p.m by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
