Enugu State Government on Saturday, August 8,2026, announced that it has commenced plans to overhaul electricity infrastructure in Nkanu East, Nkanu West ,Aninri and Awgu Local Government Areas and other communities underserved, to achieve universal access to electricity , targeting an average of more than 20 hours of electricity supply daily.
The moves followed a stakeholders’ ‘engagement on the power challenges confronting communities in the Four local government areas, where residents were invited to give their experiences and expectations concerning electricity supply.
Speaking at the event held on Saturday, at the International Conference Centre, ICC, Enugu the Managing Director, Enugu State Electrification Agency , Chris Ezeoha, said the state government had directed the agency to break up the existing long electricity feeder serving the communities and introduce additional 33kV feeders and injection Sub- stations to improve reliability and.to reduce prolonged outages.
He added that the intervention was part of the state government’s broader plan to achieve universal access to electricity across the State.
According to him, the administration had given clear directives for electricity interventions to cover the three senatorial districts of the state, beginning with Enugu East.
“For us, in Enugu State Electrification Agency, we have a very clear mandate from His Excellency, and that mandate is to make sure that we provide universal access to electricity in all the communities of the state,” Ezeoha said.
He explained that the stakeholder meeting was only one phase of a broader programme designed to understand the challenges confronting communities and subsequently deploy appropriate solutions.
Managing Director, Enugu State Electrification Agency , Chris Ezeoha, working towards ensuring access to electricity in Enugu communities.
He announced the state government’s plans of groundbreaking exercise for the construction of additional 33kV feeders aimed at reducing the prolonged darkness experienced by residents.
“Beyond sitting down here to discuss these challenges, based on the directives of His Excellency, we will do a groundbreaking event where we want to radiate some 33kV feeders that will alleviate the pains of darkness that our people have experienced for too long a time,” he said.
Giving further insight into the problem, the Managing Director explained that Nkanu East, Nkanu West and neighbouring areas had been grossly underserved because a single, extremely long feeder currently supplies a large number of communities.
He said the existing arrangement involved a feeder of about 640 kilometres serving eight local government areas — five in Enugu State and three in Ebonyi State.
Commissioner for Energy, Enyinnaya Ogbonnaya Franklin
According to him, the length of the line made fault detection and repairs difficult, resulting in prolonged periods without electricity whenever a fault occurred.
“The fact is that Nkanu West, Nkanu East or communities in the area have been grossly underserved in terms of electricity supply, and the reason is because only one line feeds the whole of this local government,” he explained.
He said some communities had suffered p severe neglect, citing Nkerefi, Nara, Mburumbu and Nomeh as examples of communities that had reportedly remained without electricity for more than 20 years following vandalism and the subsequent failure to restore the affected infrastructure.
“Nkerefi, Nara, Mburubu, Nome havr not had supply for over 20 years. After vandalism, the distribution company neglected it completely. Ever since the advent of EEDC, these communities that I’ve mentioned have not had electricity,” he said.
According to him, Governor Mbah had specifically directed that electricity be restored to the affected communities but recognised that merely restoring the existing feeder would not provide a sustainable solution.
He explained that the length of the feeder meant that restoring power through the existing infrastructure could result in repeated faults and prolonged outages.
To address the problem, the state government plans to divide the existing long feeder into smaller sections by developing about three additional feeders.
He explained that the intervention will effectively reduce the length of the existing electricity network from more than 600 kilometres to approximately 200 kilometres or less per section.
“What His Excellency has directed us is to radiate about three feeders that will break that 600 and something kilometres into about 200 or less than that,” he said.
He added that injection Sub- stations would also be deployed to transform electricity from 33kV lines to 11kV lines, thereby improving the stability and reliability of electricity supplied to communities.
“The result is that we’re going to improve the power system reliability in those places,” he said.
Ezeoha emphasized that the ultimate objective was to provide affected communities with an average of more than 20 hours of electricity every day.
“By the time we finish doing this work, we hope to give them more than 20 hours average daily power supply. That’s what the Governor said we should do,” he stated.
The state government said the planned electricity intervention would not be limited to Nkanu East and Nkanu West, stressing that similar projects would be implemented across the state.
The official disclosed that Nsukka would be the next major area of intervention, with plans to construct a 33kV line directly from the transmission station in Nsukka to the affected communities and install injection substations.
He said the project was expected to address persistent electricity challenges in communities that have continued to experience inadequate supply.
Mbah targets 24-hour electricity statewide
He disclosed that Governor Mbah had set an ambitious target of ensuring that every community in the state eventually enjoys electricity supply round the clock.
He added that the governor’s directive was for communities across Enugu State to have reliable electricity supply before the end of his administration.
“The Governor said before he leaves office that every local community in the state should have 24 hours, seven days and 365 days of power supply,” he said.
He explained that achieving the target would require not only generating more electricity but also developing the infrastructure required to evacuate and distribute the power to consumers.
The Agency boss also linked the planned electricity infrastructure upgrade to the state’s broader energy strategy, noting that the governor had brought in a company expected to generate about 630 megawatts of electricity.
He said the state was therefore preparing its transmission and distribution infrastructure to ensure that the additional electricity generated could be evacuated and delivered efficiently to residents and businesses.
“Now that the Governor has brought in a company that is going to generate 630 megawatts of electricity, what we’re doing now is to prepare the background so that this energy, when it is generated, we can evacuate it,” he said.
He explained that the objective was to build a power system capable of carrying the additional energy and distributing it to residents reliably.
“We’ll have a system, a power system infrastructure that can carry the energy and give our people electricity that is reliable, affordable and adequate for their needs,” he added.
State Government officials at the event
Also speaking, Dr Tom Inugonum, General Manager of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Enugu, commended the state government for its efforts to improve electricity supply.
Others who spoke at the stakeholders ‘engagement were the representative of the Governor, Commissioner for Energy, Enyinnaya Ogbonnaya Franklin , the Deputy Speaker, Enugu state House of Assembly, Hon. Ezenta Ezenta , House Committee chairman on Energy, Hon. Amuka Williams, They said the ongoing interventions formed part of the state government ‘s wider electricity reform agenda aimed at addressing years of inadequate power supply, supporting economic activities and improving the quality of life of residents across the State.
