Many Lagos residents are expected to experience an eight-week blackout ahead of the repair work to be embarked upon by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

The areas to be affected, according to Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), are Oregun, Police Training College, Oba Akran, Oke Ira, Ogba, Magodo, Anifowoshe and Omole Phase One.

The shutdown is to enable the TCN to re-conduct its 132KV lines.

The Chief Technical Officer of Ikeja Electric, Olajide Kumapayi, said that the project, which would begin on October 11, was tailored towards increasing the capacity of the transmission lines to generate more power from the generation companies.

He told newsmen on Monday that some of the 132K lines installed over 50 years ago had become obsolete and degraded over time and stressed the need for the upgrade.

He disclosed that the upgrade covers 132KV lines from Ikeja West to Ota and Alimosho in stages, adding that this is the second stage.

He said:

“The TCN is replacing all the aluminium conductors with gap conductors which are more sophisticated to withstand heat and have more capacity to carry current.

“The implication of this is that from 8am to 6pm every day, the substations controlling these areas will be switched off, which will affect the feeders connected to them.

“This will affect all categories of customers within the area, especially our Maximum Demand (MD) customers such as Ikeja City Mall, Police College, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and the Ikeja High Court.”

He stated that the TCN would also move to Alimosho and Agege axis during the next stage, noting that the upgrade was a power sector initiative to boost transmission and distribution of electricity to Nigerians.

Head, Corporate Communications of Ikeja Electric, Felix Ofulue, said IKEDC had written to the affected customers to notify them of the development.

“Even though this is a TCN project, it is our duty to inform our customers of the situation because we are the ones that interface with them on a daily basis.

“We believe it will be for the benefit of our customers at the end of the day and will also allow Ikeja Electric to invest more in our system to improve power supply to customers under our network,” Ofulue said.