NNPC says its gas network is not to blame for the power drop, as generation falls to 2,692 MW

For most of this week, the official story of Nigeria's poor power supply had three parts: too little gas at power plants, low water at the dams, and maintenance. On Saturday NNPC Ltd, the country's biggest gas supplier, publicly rejected the first part.

What NNPC said

In a statement on Saturday, NNPC's Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, said the pipelines run by its gas unit, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), were available without constraints. He said gas production had grown about 10 per cent so far in 2026.

"Gas supply availability is therefore not a challenge," the statement said, Vanguard reported.

NNPC was careful in how it put this. It said gas production, supply contracts and deliveries to each power plant are separate questions, and that open pipelines do not by themselves mean gas is actually delivered, Tribune reported. It said it supports a coordinated review of the data with gas suppliers, transporters, power plants and NISO, the grid operator.

Vanguard dated the statement Friday. Premium Times, Tribune and other outlets say Saturday, 7 November.

What the minister and NISO said

On 5 November, NISO said generation had fallen because of limited gas at thermal stations and lower water flowing into hydro reservoirs. Read that story.

On Friday, Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe issued an "Update on Power Situation". He blamed three things: planned maintenance at Egbin Power Station in Lagos, gas supply constraints at some thermal plants, and sabotage of key transmission lines. The sabotage, he said, "restricted the use of alternative routes", particularly into Lagos, Nairametrics and Vanguard reported.

He said four states, including Lagos and the FCT, were affected, and that grid operators had brought in load shedding. The affected units will return in phases, he said, "with the first units coming back online within the next 48 to 72 hours". He did not say which units, or when full supply would return.

"We are also working with operators to improve gas supply," Tegbe said, Premium Times reported.

How low supply fell

At 10am on Saturday, generation on the grid was 2,692 MW, The Sun reported. That is well below the 3,659 MW Vanguard reported for Thursday afternoon. The two figures are for different times of day, so the fall may be partly a daily swing.

The Sun listed 14 plants producing nothing at that hour, among them Afam VI, Alaoji, Geregu NIPP, Olorunsogo, Omoku, Sapele and Ihovbor NIPP. It did not say why each was down. We could not confirm the 2,692 MW figure from NISO itself.

Who is right?

Both sides may be partly right. NNPC talks about the pipelines it runs. The minister and NISO talk about gas actually reaching some plants. Gas can be short at a power station for reasons outside NGIC's pipes, such as supply contracts, other suppliers, payments or the plant's own equipment. None of the statements we read gave figures for gas delivered to each plant, so we cannot say which plants were short or why. Who is right about the gas, simply.

What it means for you

If you are in Lagos, Abuja or the other affected areas, expect load shedding to continue until the Egbin units return and more plants come back. Tegbe's own deadline means some improvement should show by Monday. If your feeder is still dark well after that, report it to your DisCo, because a local fault can hide behind a national shortage. Why one station in Lagos matters so much, simply.