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‘Power Grid Has Collapsed 14 Times This Year’

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electricity
  • ‘Power Grid Has Collapsed 14 Times This Year’

The country’s electricity grid has already collapsed 14 times since the beginning of this year, according to documents obtained from the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

Findings showed that power generation remained unstable in the second quarter of the year, rising above 4,000 megawatts and crashing to around 2,000MW on different occasions.

The grid collapsed four times in the second quarter of the year, as against 10 times in the preceding quarter.

Industry documents obtained by our correspondent on Friday in Abuja showed that the highest rate of system collapse was recorded in January, as the grid crashed six times in the first month of 2017.

While the grid recorded 10 collapses in the first quarter of the year, the quantum of spinning reserve aimed at forestalling such occurrence was low during the period.

Spinning reserve is the generation capacity that is online but unloaded and can respond within 10 minutes to compensate for generation or transmission failure.

In January, the grid recorded a peak generation of 4,160.4MW, but witnessed six collapses, as it crashed to 10MW, 108MW, 49.2MW, 112.2MW, 147.2MW and 182.1MW on the 15th, 16th, 18th, 25th, 27th and 28th, respectively.

It collapsed three times in February and recorded a peak generation of 4,777.5MW, which currently stands as the highest quantum of electricity generation recorded in the country this year.

Grid collapses were recorded on February 1, 4 and 22, as it crashed to 143MW, 25MW and 320.5MW, respectively.

Only one collapse was recorded in March, bringing the total number of grid collapse in the first quarter to 10.

Officials at the ministries of Petroleum Resources and Power, Works and Housing attributed the reduction in grid collapse in February and March to the increase in the supply of gas to fire about 80 per cent of power generation plants across the country.

They told our correspondent that discussions between the Federal Government and militants in the Niger Delta region paid off, adding that this led to a significant drop in the spate at which pipelines were being vandalised.

The documents further showed that while the months of May and June witnessed one system collapse each, the situation occurred twice in April.

The power grid collapsed from 3,069.5MW to 108.7MW on April 9, and moved up marginally to 240MW the next day, while on April 26, it crashed to 113.6MW, down from the 3,222.5MW that was recorded the preceding day.

The system collapses in April were due to frequency constraints on the grid.

However, after about six weeks without recording a collapse, the grid eventually crashed on Tuesday, dropping from a peak of 4,141.5MW to 78.4MW following a sharp decline in frequency from 50.28 hertz to 47.00Hz.

It was learnt that the recent collapse was caused by the tripping and non-functionality of some electricity lines, a development that prompted the decline in system frequency.

Figures from the sector showed that the most recent system collapse before Tuesday’s incident occurred on May 8, 2017, when power generation crashed to 188.1MW from a peak of 4,196.1MW.

Aside the 188.1MW, the least quantum of electricity generated in May was 2,316MW, while the highest for the month was 4,553.9MW.

However, in June, power producers generated 4,451MW as the highest for the month, while the least, aside the crash to 78.4MW, was 1,996.6MW.

In its report on the most recent grid collapse, the National Control Centre of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, said, “System collapse occurred at 17:40hrs on June 27, 2017. System frequency declined sharply from 50.28Hz to 47.00Hz and this was followed by a collapse. The Benin/Omotosho 330kV line (cct B5M) CBs tripped at both ends. Also, the Omotosho/Ikeja West 330kV line (cct M5W) has been out of service on maintenance work.”

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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N1.3bn Fraud Allegation: Court Orders Arrest of Dana Air MD For Not Showing Up For Arraignment

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Mr. Hathiramani Ranesh

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Dana Air, Mr. Hathiramani Ranesh for failing to appear in court for his arraignment in the alleged N1.3 billion fraud preferred against him by the Office of the Attorney-General of Federation (AGF).

The Federal Government had on October 10, 2024, asked the court to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of Dana Air after failing to honour invitation for his arraignment.

The AGF had filed a six-count charge against Ranesh and two others and marked Dana Group PLC and Dana Steel Ltd as the 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.

The prosecution argued that Ranesh and the two companies, along with others still at large, committed a felony between September and December 2018 at the DANA Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina.

They were accused of conspiring to remove, convert, and sell four units of industrial generators—three units Ht of 9,000 KVA and one unit of 1,000 KVA—valued at over N450 million. These assets were reportedly part of the Deed of Asset Debenture used as collateral for a bond, which remains valid.

The defendants and others at large were said to have conspired to fraudulently divert N864 million between April 7th and 8th, 2014, at House No. 116, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Isolo-Lagos.

This sum, reportedly part of the bond proceeds from Ecobank intended for revitalizing production at Dana Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina, was allegedly diverted for unauthorized purposes.

They were also accused of conspiring to transfer N60,300,000 to an Atlantic Shrimpers account (No: 0001633175) at Access Bank, fraudulently diverting funds earmarked as part of the Ecobank bond proceeds for resuming production at the Katsina factory.

The cumulative amount involved in the charge totals N1,374,300,000. Each offense is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

After Mojisola-Okeya Esho, counsel to the Federal Government, had requested for bench warrant to be issued against Ranesh, the defence lawyer, B. Ademola-Bello, disagreed with Esho, saying that they had filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter and that the prosecution had already been served.

Delivering ruling on the application, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, agreed with Esho that Ranesh’s arrest was necessary due to his failure to appear in court despite being served with the charge and several proceedings having taken place.

Justice Egwuatu held that, according to Section 184 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the court has the authority to issue an arrest warrant against any defendant who fails to attend court sessions.

Egwuatu ordered that Ranesh must appear before the court on January 13, 2025, before any objections can be raised.

Consequently, he adjourned the matter till January 13, 2025, for hearing.

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Persistent Service Disruptions In Banks Paralyze Activities At Ports, Many Cargoes Trapped 

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Lekki Deep Seaport

Activities at the Apapa and Tin-Can Ports in Lagos State have been paralyzed as cargoes have remained uncleared following persistent disruption to some online services of some commercial banks in Nigeria.

It was gathered that the banks suffer network problems due to the upgrade of their electronic banking portals.

To this end, business moguls have been unable to pay the Customs duty necessary for the clearance of their cargoes at the ports.

A visit to the ports showed that many import units of containers have not been cleared because their clearance documents are still trapped in some banks due to ongoing network migration issues.

If the banking disruptions persist and cargoes continue to lie fallow at the ports, experts have said that prices of goods at Nigerian markets may soar.

Many persons who have been working at the ports have also been rendered jobless as activities at the ports remain in limbo.

Confirming the situation at the ports, the National President of the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON), Mr. Frank Ogunojemite said many jobs are stuck because agents have been battling to settle payment part of their clearance schedules.

Ogunojemite revealed that the clearance of cargoes at the ports usually goes through Form M and the Pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), said agents have to go through a commercial bank to pay their Customs duty before any clearance process can be done.

He said if the banking system or network is down, it will be impossible for Customs duty to be paid and that container will remain in the port accumulating rent which comes with storage and demurrage payments.

According to him, prices of goods may soar if the situation persists as cargo owners spend more for clearance if their containers spend longer time in the ports.

Preferring solutions, he called on government to introduce ‘compensatory law’ where importers are given waivers when delays to their cargoes inside the ports is not from them.

Also, haulage operators bemoaned the effect of the various banking migrations on picking of containers inside the ports.Persistent Service Disruptions In Banks Paralyze Activities At Ports, Many Cargoes Trapped

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Nigerian Businesses Face Tougher Times as PMI Drops to 19 Months Low of 46.9

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Business metrics - investors king

Nigerian businesses continued to face headwinds as the Purchasing Managers Index published by Stanbic IBTC shows a 19-month low. 

According to the report released on Friday, business conditions took a hit and PMI dipped from 49.8 points in September to 46.9 points, the steepest decline since March 2023.

For context, a PMI reading above 50 points indicates growth in business activity. Conversely, a reading below 50 points indicates contraction, suggesting deterioration consequent to an economic downturn.

According to the report, businesses faced pressures from the local currency weakening, higher fuel prices and increasing cost of transportation.

This has also forced the hands of businesses to increase prices to sustain operations, which the report stated has led to a reduction in new orders and business activity.

Most importantly, confidence in the business sector plummeted to the worst ever since the organisation started documenting PMI in 2014.

“Overall input costs rose at one of the sharpest rates on record, with selling prices increased accordingly. This resulted in marked reductions in new orders and business activity, while business sentiment was the lowest in the survey’s history,” the report read in part.

A positive light in the report was that some companies managed to add a few new hires, extending a six-month trend of job creation. The downside to this was that the companies employed these staff on a short-term basis.

The report also stated that companies are making efforts, now more than ever, to help their staff stay afloat in the current economic situation.

“Meanwhile, efforts to help workers with rising living costs meant that staff pay was increased to the greatest extent in seven months,” the report added.

Metrics like the private sector output, volume of orders, and quantities of purchases made by customers all recorded steeper values than they did in September.

Trends showed that prices, cost of staff maintenance and input prices, on the other hand, recorded very sharp increases, with some metrics posting record hikes since March 2023.

Inflation in the general Nigerian macro environment is telling in every quarter and businesses are not exempt.

Analysts told Investors King that special interventions will help ease the pressure on companies, but warned that risky conditions attached to these measures may scare off firms from accepting them.

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