Residents and business owners in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, have lamented the drop in electricity supply to the area in March.
They said the situation caused losses as preparations were on to celebrate Easter and the commencement of Ramadan.
Between the last week of February and March, most towns in Osun State, especially Osogbo, have been experiencing epileptic power supply.
A business owner, Helen Opeyemi, in a chat with DAILY POST, said business this year has been bad, particularly with the worsening electricity supply in Osogbo.
“This year’s Easter has been the worst so far for me. Things are so expensive that we the sellers make little gain and to make matters worse, all of a sudden, we started to suffer in terms of power supply.
“We initially thought it was a case of equipment broken down but when the problem lingered, we knew something had gone wrong until we started to hear different stories.
“Look at it, Lent and Ramadan. Water and Ileya. Now there is no electricity! This is terrible,” she said.
Tayo Babatunde, a hairstylist in the same vein, said her business has been suffering because of the epileptic electricity supply.
“I run a salon business where I have to use electricity most of the time. I now have to make do with generators. This means the cost of making hair for my customers would go up considering that I have to factor in the cost of petrol.
“It has never been like this in Osogbo. I just wish we could get out of this. It is very bad for business I tell you,” she said.
Meanwhile, an inverter and solar panel marketer, Tope Fabiyi said the epileptic power supply in the Osun State capital has made many residents consider investing in solar products as an alternative power supply source.
“Initially, it was generators that Nigerians turned to as an alternative to electricity.
“With the removal of fuel subsidy and the astronomical rise in the price of petroleum products, people are now considering cheaper means of powering their homes.
“This is where solar products come into the mix. Before you’d have to get solar energy products from Lagos or Ibadan but now it is flooding Osun. Which was not the case some years back.
“Really, times have changed,’ Fabiyi said.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, in a statement by its spokesperson, Busolami Tunwase, attributed it to supply from the generating companies, energy theft from consumers and vandalization.
However, the excuse was not accepted as the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, Osun State chapter, threatened to picket the IBEDC head office in Osogbo.
In a post on its official X handle on Friday, the organisation said, “We want to express dissatisfaction with what the electricity company is doing in Osun State, we wish to inform the @IBEDC_NG to expect the youth constituency in their office in our nos in due time.
“People cannot be paying for services they are not enjoying. Enough of the blackout.”
Reacting, the spokesperson to the Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Olawale Rasheed said the governor had asked the Commissioner for Energy, Adeyemo Festus Ademola, to discuss with the IBEDC management a solution to the power problem affecting residents in the state.
“Governor @AAdeleke_01 has directed the Commissioner for Energy to invite Ibadan Disco for discussion on the power supply situation in Osun State,” he said.
However, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, says it has successfully restored the national power grid following its collapse at 4:28 pm on Thursday.
TCN, in a statement on Friday, by its spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, said the grid attained full recovery by 10 pm on the same day.
“We remain optimistic that the power supply will be restored to optimal normalcy soon, as the grid restoration continues. We will keep you updated,” it read.
Mbah said a report from the National Control Centre in Osogbo had it that the system disturbance was triggered by a significant reduction in generation capacity, primarily due to gas constraints.
This reduction, she explained, led to a rapid decline in system frequency, creating “a sudden imbalance in the grid.”
She added, “The imbalance in grid stability was exacerbated by the sudden tripping of Egbin generation Turbine 3, resulting in an additional loss of 167MW load and the subsequent collapse of the grid.”
IBEDC has since promised customers in its franchise that there would be a stable power supply during the Easter celebrations.
In a statement on Friday, the Managing Director, IBEDC, Engineer Kingsley Achife, said the company would also keep its technical team on standby to address all issues that may arise during the festivities.
Easter: Business owners, residents lament epileptic power supply in Osogbo
