
News
Outage as Electricity Grid crashes over strike by TCN workers
The national electricity grid on Wednesday morning began a nosedive from over 4,000 megawatts (MW) to 762MW as workers under the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) began an industrial action to protest a compulsory promotion interview for principal managers, among other issues.
According to data from the Independent System Operation (ISO), a section of TCN, power generation on the grid was 4,149.40MW as of 6am from 21 power plants on Wednesday but drastically dropped to 1,635MW from 17 plants.
By 12 noon, the grid had crashed to 1,246.40MW as three power plants went off, and by 1pm, the grid dropped to 762.30MW with just 13 plants active. The peak generation achieved on Tuesday was 4,829MW.
Union’s grouse with TCN
The National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) had protested on Tuesday, blocking the premises of TCN in Maitama after it issued a notice of the strike earlier, notifying that it would fully commence the industrial action on Wednesday.
According to the General Secretary, Joe Ajaero in the notice dated 15th August 2022, the union protested against a directive by “the TCN Board that all Principal Managers in acting capacity going to Assistant General Managers, must appear for a promotion interview. This directive is in contravention of our Conditions of Service and Career Progression Paths, and unilaterally done without the relevant stakeholders.”

It also alleged stigmatization of staff from the office of the Head of Serve of the Federation from working in other areas in the power sector, as well as refusal of the Market operator at TCN to fund the payment of entitlement of ex-PHCN staff as agreed in December 2019.
Responding to the notice the same day, the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, noted the complaints and appealed to the union for time to resolve the issue.
“May we appeal to your great union to allow us two weeks from the date of this letter to address the issues and come up with proposals towards acceptable resolution of all issues,” he said.
More so, the Managing Director of TCN, Engr. Sule Abdulaziz, wrote a letter on 15th August, 2022 to NUEE stating that, “We are pleased to inform you that management has suspended the said proposed interview for those on the acting appointment of assistant general managers and general managers while we conclude the discussion with the board.
On the other issues such as circular from the office of Head of Service on stigmatization of the defunct PHCN staff and payment of entitlement of ex-PHCN staff by the Market Operator, Abdulaziz said the management had contacted the Minister of Power, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu, for further actions.
“In view of this development, we appeal to your union to stay in action,” he pleaded.
However, NUEE on 16th August, 2022, wrote back to the minister and the MD of TCN, insisting that the protest will continue. The union faulted the authorities for not resolving the promotion issues for three years and was not convinced about the issues regarding stigmatization at the Office of the Head of Service.
“On the stigmatization of staff from the office of the Head of Service of the Federation from working in other areas in the power sector, we are not sure you are speaking for the Head of Service after memos addressed to that office several months ago have gone without any acknowledgement,” the letter stated.
And for issues concerning the TCN board, NUEE insisted on hearing from the board and not through the TCN management or the junior minister’s office.
“Premised on the foregoing, we may be constrained to continue with this action by Wednesday 17th August 2022 with a total withdrawal of services. However, the union is still open to decisive discussions with relevant actors; with a view to proffering solutions to the issues raised and averting the total collapse of the sector,” Ajaero stated in the letter.
DisCos announce outage
In the meantime, there are pockets of outages in Abuja and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) issued a notice telling customers the outage was due to the withdrawal of services by TCN workers who transmit bulk power from plants to DisCos’ stations.
Ikeja DisCo in Lagos also issued a notice saying the nationwide picketing affected most of its stations and disrupted power supply.
Enugu DisCo also announced in a notice to the customers that power supply to all the five south east states had been disrupted due to industrial action by TCN and advised customers to maintain vigilance over their transformers to forestall vandalism hoodlums during the period of the outage. (Daily Trust)
News
Enugu Lawyer rejects paternity claim after DNA Test results
A legal practitioner, Barrister Chinedu Ifeanyi Iloeje, has publicly declared that a man previously believed to be his son is not biologically related to him, following the outcome of a DNA test.
In a public notice published in a newspaper, Iloeje stated that he was allegedly misled by the man’s mother into believing that the individual, identified as Chinedu Francis Iloeje, was his biological son.
According to the notice, DNA testing conducted on the matter established “beyond any doubt” that the man is not his son.
The lawyer further clarified that he never legally adopted the individual, despite the latter bearing the name Chinedu Francis Iloeje.
Disclaimer
Barrister Iloeje explained that the man’s original name is Chinedu Francis Onwualu and stressed that he has no legal or biological relationship with him.
The notice also informed members of the public, the Greater Iloeje Family, the Umuodu Village Union, Uwani Amokwe Town Union, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church Amokwe, Udi Local Government Council, and other stakeholders of his declaration.

He stated that the disclaimer was made in good faith and while of sound mind, urging the public to take note of the clarification.
The publication has sparked discussions on paternity disputes and the increasing reliance on DNA testing to resolve questions of biological parentage.
News
Obi donates N10 million to burnt hospital in Enugu
Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in the forthcoming 2027 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has donated N10 million to assist in the renovation of the burnt Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital, Enugu State.
The former Anambra State governor handed over the cheque for the donation to the hospital management team when he visited the hospital yesterday.
The hospital belongs to the Reverend Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of the Catholic Church.

Mr Peter Obi inspecting the burnt hospital
Addressing the hospital management team after inspecting parts of the burnt hospital, the NDC presidential candidate commended them for their efforts in contributing to healthcare delivery services.
Telling them that even though they might feel that they were not being appreciated for what they were doing, Obi, however, described healthcare delivery services and education as among the “most critical needs of society” and urged them not to relent in what they were doing.

Accompanied during the visit by his Chief of Staff, Commissioner for Housing, as well as Special Adviser on Media when he was Anambra State governor, Prof. Stella Okunna, Prof. Patrick Obi, and Dr. Valentine Obienyem respectively, Obi assured the hospital management team that he would continue to support them.
Part of the hospital gutted by the inferno and inspected by Obi was the Children’s Ward.
Expressing gratitude on behalf of the hospital management, the Chief Medical Director of Immaculate Heart Hospital, Nkpor, Anambra State, Rev. Sister Dr. Maria Nkiruka Okafor, eulogised Obi for his sacrifices and selfless contributions to humanity.
Disclosing that Obi had already credited the hospital’s accountant with the N10 million donation and that he was even the person who called her to inform her that he had received the sad news of the inferno and promised to donate towards the renovation, Rev. Sister Okafor described him as a rare politician.
She prayed that God would grant him his ambition to become President of the country and enable him to achieve his desire to transform it.
News
FG, Enugu State target direct China-Enugu Cargo flights by December – Keyamo
The Federal Government and Enugu State Government are in talks to ensure the commencement of direct cargo flight operations between Enugu and Guangzhou, China, before the end of the year.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Barr Festus Keyamo, disclosed this in Lagos during the launch of the United Air’s newly acquired airplanes on Thursday.
The Minister added said the FG had affected a structural management overhaul at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, also bringing the airport under a privately run operational framework.

Enugu Airline
“One of our prides in the South is the Enugu International Airport. The Enugu governor approached Mr. President, noting that the airport was not maximising its economic potential under standard bureaucratic structures, and requested to bring in private investors to run it. Mr. President gave the green light.
“As I speak with you, Enugu is now fully privately owned and fully supported by state government, with the clear objective of also turning it into a dedicated cargo hub for the entire Southeast.”

To this effect, therefore, Keyamo said that a high-level bilateral trade negotiations were ongoing with a view to securing direct logistics flights between China and the Southeast by the end of 2026.
“Just two days ago, the Enugu governor and I were actively negotiating the first direct cargo flight from Guangzhou, China, straight into Enugu.
“We are targeting December for the maiden flight. This will allow our Southeast merchants and traders in China to consolidate their goods into unified cargo accounts twice a week, flying straight into Enugu for seamless delivery to hubs like Onitsha and Aba,” he concluded.
It is recalled that Governor Mbah had in July 2025 launched Enugu Air, a state-owned airline, as part of the administration’s integrated blueprint for a modern, multimodal transport ecosystem and the vision to make Enugu a major aviation and logistics hub.
Since then, Enugu Air has grown its fleet from three at inception to six planes with plans to further increase it as it prepares to commence operations to regional destinations like Accra, Libreville, Abidjan in next few months and long haul flight operations to various destinations around the world by the end of the year.
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