As the power outage continues to cripple government and private businesses in Benin City, the Edo State capital, the state government has distanced itself from the cause of the outage.
The Ossiomo Power plant, a private power-generating and distribution company, has been a source of power supply to government and private businesses in Benin City and its environs, including the Edo State Civil Service Secretariat, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Edo State Council, among others.
However, business activities have been paralysed in the last five days owing to the outage.
Reacting in a statement, the Edo State Government, through the Director General of the Edo State Electrification Agency, Saturday Egbadon, said the Edo State Government did not play any role in the ongoing power supply disruption. He emphasised that Ossiomo is a privately owned entity and operates independently of the State Government.
“What we are experiencing is as a result of internal issues between Ossiomo Power and their partners, and not caused by the government or electricity consumers,” Egbadon stated.
He further clarified that the state was not informed in advance about any planned shutdown and reaffirmed that efforts were ongoing to mitigate the impact on residents.
However, Ossiomo Power has attributed the power cut to a “major technical issue” within its generation facility.
In a statement issued by its Deputy General Manager, Engr. Francis Ekwe, the company acknowledged the outage, which began on Monday, 1 September 2025, and extended an apology to its customers.
“The requisite equipment and the necessary accessories have been procured and are undergoing installation at the site,” Ekwe said. “It is expected that power will be restored as soon as possible, as our team of engineers is already on site to ensure quick installation.”
He assured customers that the new equipment, once fully installed, would improve power generation, transmission, and distribution. “We humbly appeal to all our customers to bear with us,” he added. Business operators have been counting their losses since the outage began.
