Residents Of Gowon Estate Protest Over Three Months Electricity Blackout

Residents of Gowon Estate in the Egbeda area of Lagos State on Monday staged a protest at the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company’s office over a prolonged power outage that has plunged parts of the area into darkness for months.

The protesters converged on the IKEDC office in the Ponle area of the community, demanding the immediate restoration of electricity to their homes.

According to them, several streets along 34 Road, including B Close, C Close, D Close, and F Close, had been without power supply since October 12, 2025, following the breakdown of a 500KVA transformer serving the area.

The protesters also accused the electricity distribution company of neglecting repeated complaints and letters written to its officials.

One of the protesters, Oluwatoyin Adebayo, lamented the hardship the blackout had caused families in the area.

She said, “Because there is no light, we cannot buy things to keep in our freezers again. Things are getting spoiled.

“We don’t even have money to buy things because our husbands say we are just wasting money on fuel every time. We are near the IKEDC office; they are our neighbours, yet they are punishing us.”

Another resident, Reverend Tom Omorogbe, said he was spending as much as N30,000 every day on fuel to power generators, despite having already loaded his prepaid meters with electricity units, which he claimed he could not use.

“We are Nigerians, not foreigners. We pay our bills. Our money is trapped in the meter, and they are using our money to run their business while we are buying fuel again,” he added.

The protesters also expressed concern over the impact of the outage on their children and the elderly.

“School has resumed. We want to store food to take care of our children, but we cannot because the food will spoil. Three people have died because of the heat.

“If they don’t do something, we are not here to joke. We need our light now. If not, this week or next week, we will lock this place. Nobody will come in, nobody will go out,” another protester, who identified herself simply as Ingobu, disclosed while also chanting “enough is enough.”

The protesters threatened to shut down the IKEDC office if no concrete action was taken.

It was gathered that in a letter earlier sent to the distribution company, the community explained that the transformer went off on October 12, 2025, and that IKEDC engineers visited on October 15, 2025, saying the equipment was faulty and needed to be taken to a workshop.

However, the letter stated that despite repeated visits and calls to the company’s undertaking, no further action was taken, leaving the entire community in darkness for weeks.

“In effect, the entire community has been in total darkness since 12th October, 2025, while the faulty transformer remains untouched. All we get are unfulfilled daily promises that they were coming to remove it.

“We are passionately appealing to your organisation to please take urgent action on this matter. The entire community of hundreds of consumers, especially the children and aged ones, is in distress because of the situation,” the letter partly read.

In another petition addressed to the state government, the residents stated that the same transformer, which had been overhauled, broke down again on December 13, 2025, after earlier outages between October 12 and November 6, 2025.

The petition, which was signed by a resident, Dipo Oduko of B Close, added that the transformer was over 40 years old and appeared to have major technical issues with a need for replacement.

“We are therefore appealing to you, sir, to kindly rescue us from this suffering. Many of us are retirees that had served this nation in our various callings meritoriously and deserve a quality and decent living in our old age,” the petition added.

A top official in the company, while addressing the protesters, apologised for the inconveniences while assuring them that their light would be restored soon.

“The management was not aware of your communication to us; if we had received it, your demands would not have taken a longer time. For us at Ikeja Electric, we are a reputable organisation. It is just unfortunate that this is happening.

“Immediately after this, we will send our engineers there to see the possibility of providing a solution to the problem. The first option is to see how we can put you on an adjoining transformer, and if that does not work, we will give you a very reasonable time limit to see how we can get you another transformer,” the official disclosed.

 

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Key Stakeholders In Power Sector Meet In Lagos To Find Lasting Solutions To Nigeria's Electricity Challenges

Ministers, regulators, and other stakeholders in the power sector will meet in Lagos to discuss solutions to Nigeria’s power challenges.

Smart-grid solutions provider, NOJA Power Australia, will on Tuesday, January 27, host a high-level executive dialogue aimed at strengthening collaboration among states, regulators, distribution companies, and financiers in Nigeria’s electricity sector, as the industry adjusts to the Electricity Act 2023.

According to a statement, the organisers said the event, themed ‘Effective Collaboration Between States, Regulators, and Distribution Companies: A Synergy for Sub-National Energy Security’, will be held in Lagos under the Akinwunmi & Busari LP ‘Let There Be Light’ Series.

About 60 key decision-makers are expected at the closed-door session, including the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu; the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; and the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen.

Participants will also be drawn from state energy commissions, electricity regulators, distribution companies, development agencies, and the investment community.

The organisers described the dialogue as a strategic networking and policy engagement forum rather than a conventional conference, designed to promote frank, solution-driven discussions on the evolving structure of Nigeria’s decentralised power market.

With the Electricity Act 2023 empowering states to play a more active role in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, stakeholders are expected to interrogate emerging challenges such as regulatory overlap, jurisdictional uncertainty, coordination between state institutions and distribution companies, as well as growing concerns among investors around risk and bankability, the statement noted.

The programme will feature opening remarks by senior government officials, followed by a keynote address from NOJA Power, which will share global perspectives on electricity distribution reform, drawing lessons from international markets where decentralisation and grid automation have improved reliability and efficiency.

It was stated that the dialogue will be organised into two executive sessions. The first session, titled ‘Resolving Regulatory Overlap in Nigeria’s Post-Electricity Act 2023 Power Market’, will examine practical frameworks for state–distribution company coexistence.

Panellists include the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye; the Ondo State Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Johnson Alabi; the Managing Director of the Nigerian Independent System Operator, Abdu Bello Mohammed; the Managing Director of Kano Electricity Distribution Plc, Dr Abubakar Jimeta; and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Musiliu Oseni.

The session will be moderated by Mr Chukwubuike Nnaeto. The second session will focus on financing power sector reforms, with the theme ‘De-risking Power Infrastructure Investments Under the Electricity Act: The Lender’s Perspective’.

It will bring together representatives of major institutional investors and public finance bodies, including the Head of Investment at the National Pension Commission, Mr Abdulqadir Dahiru; the Executive Director, Investment, Ministry of Finance, Mr Olufemi Ogunseinde; the Executive Director, Corporate Finance, Bank of Industry, Mr Rotimi Akinde; the Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers and Stanbic Pensions, Dr Demola Shogunle; and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr Abba Aliyu.

The organisers noted that the closed-door nature of the forum was deliberate, to encourage open engagement and shared accountability among policymakers, regulators, operators, and financiers.

“Successful electricity reform requires a unified approach where regulation, investment, and operations work in concert. This dialogue is a vital step towards aligning policy intentions, regulatory practices, and investment realities so that reforms translate into tangible improvements for businesses and communities,” the statement added.

 

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16 Ships Laden With Petrol, Diesel And Aviation Fuel Arrive Lagos Port

No fewer than 16 ships have arrived at Lekki, Tincan, and Apapa ports in Lagos, waiting to discharge petrol, diesel, and bulk gas.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication ‘Shipping Position’ on Thursday in Lagos.

The document noted that 40 ships laden with petroleum products, food items, and other goods were expected to arrive at Apapa, Lekki, and Tin-Can Island Ports from January 8 to January 16.

NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, bulk diesel, petrol, crude oil, fresh fish, condensate, raw oil, bulk urea, bulk gas, and containers of different goods.

NAN reports that eight other ships are at the ports discharging containers, diesel, bulk urea, and crude oil.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it generated a total revenue of N2.93 trillion from import and export facilitation at Apapa port in 2025, representing a 24.32 per cent growth of N573.2 billion over the N2.35 trillion collected in 2024.

The Customs Area Controller, Apapa Port Command, Emmanuel Oshoba, who disclosed this on Wednesday, in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Isah Sulaiman, attributed the achievement to the strategic deployment of technology, effective leadership, and disciplined manpower.

Oshoba added that a major contributor to the success was the deployment of the Unified Customs Management System (UCMS), also known as B’Odogwu, which enhanced transparency, efficiency, and accountability in cargo clearance processes.

According to him, regular performance reviews and timely revenue recovery measures further strengthened collections.

He also commended compliant stakeholders whose lawful trade practices contributed significantly to the revenue growth.

The Controller said the Command intensified stakeholder sensitisation following the rollout of the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme and expanded the One-Stop Shop (OSS) initiative to ensure faster processing and release of compliant cargoes.

He said efforts are also at an advanced stage to deploy the FS6000 cargo scanning system, a non-intrusive technology capable of scanning up to 200 containers per hour.

Oshoba disclosed that the Command also recorded enforcement successes, intercepting 53 containers laden with illicit drugs and prohibited items, including cocaine, Canadian Loud, tramadol, and expired pharmaceuticals with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N12.6 billion.

He said some of the interceptions in the year 2025 were handed over to relevant agencies such as NDLEA and NAFDAC for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Looking ahead, Oshoba expressed optimism that the Command would achieve a greater revenue milestone in 2026, driven by deeper implementation of B’Odogwu, AEO, OSS, stronger intelligence-led enforcement, and expanded collaboration with sister agencies.

 

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Private depots Take Advantage Of Halt In Dangote Refinery, Hike Petrol To N800/Litre In Lagos

Private petroleum depots across Lagos and other key fuel trading hubs have raised the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to as high as N800 per litre.

Data obtained from petroleumprice.ng on Saturday showed that the average cost of petrol at private depots increased sharply within 48 hours, tightening margins for marketers and raising fresh concerns over an imminent spike in retail pump prices nationwide.

In Lagos, Dangote depot, which consistently offers the lowest petrol price sold PMS at N703 per litre on Friday, up from N702.50 on Wednesday, December 31, 2025. While the increase at Dangote was marginal, other private depots recorded steeper adjustments.

Eterna and Integrated depots raised petrol prices to N800 per litre on Friday, compared with N726 per litre at Shellplux and AIPEC earlier in the week, indicating a jump of N74 per litre within two days.

Similarly, Aiteo and Lister depots sold petrol at N780 per litre, up from N750–N760 band recorded on Wednesday.

The impact was more pronounced in Warri, one of the country’s key petroleum logistics hubs.

While Matrix Energy and other major depots sold petrol at N800 per litre on Wednesday, prices climbed to as high as N805 per litre by Friday, according to the report.

The Warri market reacted faster due to tighter supply lines and higher transportation costs, especially as marketers reposition volumes ahead of anticipated scarcity.

Last December, Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced its petrol gantry price, slashing the ex-depot rate from N828 to N699 per litre.

The new price took effect on December 11, 2025, marking the 20th petrol price adjustment announced by the refinery this year.

Market operators linked the price surge to the shutdown of the petrol unit at the Dangote Refinery, which had recently become a major domestic supplier of PMS, helping to moderate prices following the removal of fuel subsidies.

Commenting, the Chief Executive Officer of petroleumprice.ng, Jeremiah Olatide, said the latest increase was a calculated response by importers seeking to recover losses recorded in December.

He explained that importers were hit hard by the aggressive price slash by the Dangote Refinery, which sold petrol at about N699 per litre, forcing many private players to sell below their landing costs.

“This price uptick is a deliberate move by importers to recoup losses from the massive price slash by the Dangote Refinery in December,” Olatide said.

He added that marketers were already factoring in potential supply tightness in January due to the ongoing upgrade at the Dangote Refinery, a development they believe could limit domestic supply temporarily.

“Importers are postulating that there may be supply constraints in January because of the refinery’s plant upgrade, and they see this as an opportunity to make up for December losses,” he noted.

According to him, some depot operators are deliberately holding back volumes in storage, waiting to sell at prices above their landing costs once any supply disruption emerges.

“They are keeping products in tank, hoping to sell above their landing cost as soon as there is a supply glitch,” Olatide said.

However, he cautioned that the strategy may not hold for long, noting that the Dangote Refinery could respond aggressively once supply normalises.

“We will see how the new pricing plays out, but there will likely be a fightback from the refinery,” he added.

With Dangote’s supply temporarily curtailed, private depot owners have begun repricing available stock, citing replacement costs, foreign exchange volatility and uncertainty around import schedules.

The petroleumprice.ng report also noted that Brent crude closed at $60.20 per barrel on Friday, while the naira continued to weaken at the parallel market, trading at N1,495/$, compared with N1,475/$ on Wednesday, further adding pressure to fuel pricing.

Depot price movements typically precede changes at filling stations, and industry watchers warn that the current trend could push retail petrol prices beyond N700 per litre in several cities if sustained.

Petrol marketers said margins had been compressed by logistics costs, financing challenges and volatile exchange rates, making depot price increases difficult to absorb without adjusting pump prices.

Since the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, petrol prices in Nigeria have been determined by market forces, including crude prices, exchange rates, logistics and supply availability.

The Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, had raised expectations of price stability through local refining. However, its temporary petrol unit shutdown has exposed the fragility of supply dynamics, especially as imports remain costly.

 

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