Many parts of Nigeria have been plunged into darkness again as the country’s national grid collapsed for the 11th time this year.

A message from Jos Disco to its customers confirmed that the grid collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.

The message which was signed by the company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Friday Elijah, reads:

“PUBLIC NOTICE

Dear esteemed Customer(s),

The current outage being experienced within our franchise States is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid. The loss of power supply from the national grid occurred this afternoon at about 1333 hours of today, Wednesday, 11th December 2024, hence the loss of power supply on all our feeders.

“We hope to restore normal power supply to our esteemed customers as soon as the grid supply is restored back to normalcy.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to serve you better.”

Many Nigerians have expressed their frustration on social media, particularly X, formally Twitter. Many of them noted that they have not had electricity for days.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is yet to confirm the reported collapse of the national, while Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company only reported a power outage. Eko Electricity Distribution Company reported “a loss of power supply in our network”.

Statement from EKEDC:

“Dear Valued Customer,

Kindly be informed there was a reported case of system disturbance on 11th November, 2024 at 13:32hrs which has resulted to a loss of power supply across our network.

“We are currently working with our partners as we hope for speedy restoration of the grid. We will keep you updated as soon as power supply is restored.

Kindly bear with us.”

It should be noted that earlier this week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) reportedly directed gas producers to stop supplying gas to indebted generation companies (GenCos).

The collapse of the national grid was reported by the Jos Disco.

NMDPRA’s threat to discontinue the supply of gas to GenCos could cause a blackout in the jurisdictions of the affected gencos.

According to reports, the federal government and some GenCos owe over N2 trillion in legacy debts to gas producers in Nigeria.

The NMDPRA has called on gas off-takers, particularly power generation companies, to ensure timely payment for the gas supplied.

The TCN and the Ministry of Power are yet to react to the situation.

Source: Nairametrics

Justice Maryam Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has refused to grant a bail application filed by the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, saying it was filed prematurely.

Delivering the ruling on Tuesday morning, Justice Anenih, said having been filed when he was neither in custody nor before the court, the instant application is incompetent.

The former governor is standing trial, along with two others, in an alleged N110bn money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the arguments before the court on the bail application, the judge had said, “Before the court is a motion on notice, dated and filed on 22nd November. The 1st defendant seeks an order of this honourable court admitting him to bail pending the hearing and determination of the charge.

“That he became aware of the instant charge through the public summons. That he is a two-term governor of Kogi State. That if released on bail, he would not interfere with the witnesses and not jump bail.”

She said the defendant’s counsel JB Daudu (SAN) earlier told the court that he had submitted sufficient facts to grant the bail.

He urged the court to exercise its discretion judicially and judiciously to grant the bail.

In opposing, the prosecution counsel Kemi Pinheiro had argued that the instant application was grossly incompetent, having been filed before arraignment.

He said it ought to be filed after arraignment but the 1st defendant’s counsel disagreed, saying there was no authority.

While delivering her ruling, Justice Maryam Anenih said: “The instant application for bail showed that it was filed on the 22nd of November. This shows that it was filed several days after the 1st defendant was taken into custody.”

Reading from the ACJa section, the judge said the provision provided that a bail application could be made when a defendant had been arrested, detained, arraigned, or brought before the court.

Bello had filed an application for his bail on November 22, but was taken into custody on November 26, and arraigned on November 27.

The second defendant, Umar Oricha, was granted bail in the sum of N300million with two sureties in the same amount.

The sureties must be a holder of a property in Maitama valued at not less than the bond sum, they must also deposit their original title document before the court.

The sureties must depose to an affidavit of means and copies of passport of sureties be deposited.

The court also ruled that Oricha shall deposit travel documents and be remanded in prison custody pending fulfillment of the bail conditions.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Systems, Abisola Ruth Olusanya, has lauded MoneyMaster PSB for its support for the state’s ‘Ounje Eko’ initiative.

She gave the commendation recently during an official visit by the executive management team of the bank to  her  Ikeja, Lagos, office.

The commissioner thanked the team for the visit and expressed appreciation for  the support for and participation of the bank in  the Phases 1  and 2 of the Ounje Eko project.

She challenged the bank to work more closely with the Ministry, saying such collaboration will  bring additional dividends through ongoing and future initiatives to Lagos residents.

Head, Agency Banking, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank, Mr Julius Arhebun, in his response thanked the Lagos State Government for appointing the PSB as one of the official collection banks for the food initiative.

‘Ounje Eko’ initiative is a weekly food discount market where Lagos residents can buy  a variety of food items at a discount of 25 per cent.

Arhebun, who was accompanied on the visit by Dimeji Amao; Head,  Merchant and  Enterprise Business, Bulus Ayuba; Head, Operations and Olumide Orojimi, Head, Marketing Communications  pledged additional support and readiness of the bank for  future initiatives of the Ministry.

MoneyMaster PSB is a leading provider of innovative digital financial products and services that transform lives and contribute to sustainable living. With a mission to deepen financial inclusion, MoneyMaster has been instrumental in providing financial technology services to bridge the gaps between the banked, underbanked and unbanked population.

The bank recently launched a 10% data bonus and 100MB seeding bonus to its existing and new customers to deepen financial inclusion. The offers are available to Nigerians via the USSD code and mobile banking app.