NNPC Did Not Contradict Tegbe On Egbin, Gas Supply, Says Minister’s Aide

The Ministry of Power has insisted that the statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on gas supply does not contradict the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, on the cause of the current power outages.

Special adviser, media and publicity, to the minister of Power, Adeola Adelabu, said Tegbe’s statement was clear that planned maintenance at the Egbin Power Station and constraints in gas supply to some thermal stations had reduced electricity on the national grid. He said the NNPC statement does not contradict that position.

The clarification followed NNPC’s statement of November 6, which said gas supply “is therefore not a challenge.” Tegbe’s update on the power situation, issued the same day, had cited constraints in gas supply to some thermal stations.

In his update, Tegbe said outages had hit households and businesses in four states, including Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory. He said grid operators had introduced load shedding in some areas to manage the shortfall.

Tegbe had linked the outages to scheduled maintenance at Egbin, gas-supply constraints at some thermal power stations and sabotage of transmission lines. NNPC said its subsidiary, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited, recorded no transportation-related constraints,

Responding to LEADERSHIP request  for clarification, Adeola responded, “the Minister’s statement clearly said ‘planned maintenance’ at Egbin and ‘constraints’ in gas supply to some thermal stations. NNPC statement doesn’t contradict that’

The Minister also said sabotage of key transmission lines had restricted the use of alternative routes to supply some locations, especially Lagos. He said the first generating units would return to service within 48 to 72 hours, in phases, and that the ministry was working with operators to improve gas supply and speed up repairs to damaged infrastructure.

In its statement, signed by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, NNPC said the gas transportation network run by its subsidiary, NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited (NGIC), remains available to deliver gas to power stations nationwide without constraints. It said NGIC’s records show no transportation problem that explains the decline in electricity generation.

NNPC said gas production had grown by about 10 per cent year to date in 2026. It said its statement followed the November 5 statement by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), which cited limited gas availability and reduced water inflows to hydroelectric stations as causes of lower generation.

The company said gas production, commercial supply arrangements and actual deliveries to individual plants must be assessed separately from the availability of transport infrastructure. It said the readiness of generating units, plant maintenance schedules and actual gas offtake determine whether gas supplied becomes electricity. NNPC called for a joint review of operational data by gas suppliers, transporters, generators and NISO.