Abia No Longer Experience National Grid Collapse – Gov Otti

The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti has announced that the state is no longer experiencing power outages caused by frequent collapses of the National Grid, thanks to a new initiative converting organic waste into electricity.

He disclosed this while speaking to reporters at the Government House on Thursday.

According to the governor, waste materials are now being transformed into renewable energy through biogas technology, providing a reliable power source for residents. He added that Abia State has effectively taken control of its electricity regulation, independent of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The governor also revealed that the arrangement has been negotiated and accepted by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which manages electricity supply in the state.

“This is a pilot programme. Instead of throwing away waste, we can turn it into clean energy, and we will be able to power a lot of places, particularly the Umuahia in-farms,” he said.

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“I had reported earlier that our offers to EEDC have been accepted, and we are in the process of raising the funds to pay off EEDC. On the 24th of December, the Abia State Electricity Regulation Authority took over the regulation of power from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. So everything about distribution, generation, and transmission is going to be regulated within the state.

“The whole idea is to ensure regulation of efficiency and independence in the state, just like the Aba Power provides power for the Aba in-farms. I am sure you would have been aware that some of the disasters (national grid collapses) that happened recently, our state was not affected, because a whole part of our power assets is within our authority. That is the whole idea of acquiring the whole Umuahia in-farms. I am happy we are making a lot of progress in that regard,” he added.

The announcement comes shortly after the National Grid system recorded its second collapse of 2026 on Tuesday, resulting in widespread power outages across the country.

The collapses have been linked to technical faults, poor maintenance of transmission lines, and fluctuations in generation capacity, with electricity output dropping sharply from over 4,500 megawatts to as low as zero by 11:00 AM.