Nigeria was plunged into widespread darkness on Friday following the collapse of the national electricity grid, marking the first system failure recorded in 2026 and reviving concerns over the stability of the country’s power infrastructure.
Official data obtained by AIT.live from the Nigerian Independent System Operator, NISO showed that electricity generation dropped to zero megawatts, resulting in a total loss of supply across the country.
The sudden crash disrupted power to homes, businesses, and critical services nationwide.
NISO records indicated that load allocation to all 11 electricity distribution companies, DisCos fell to zero by about 1pm, confirming what industry experts describe as a “total system collapse.” The affected DisCos include Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola.
As at the time of this report , the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN and other relevant authorities had yet to issue an official explanation for the collapse. However, grid failures in Nigeria are commonly attributed to a combination of factors, including transmission line faults, frequency instability, sudden loss of generation units, and weak coordination between power generation, transmission, and distribution segments.
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Nigeria’s power grid has a long history of recurring collapses despite ongoing reforms and investments in the electricity sector. Although generation capacity has improved marginally over the years, the national grid remains fragile, frequently overwhelmed by operational shocks and infrastructure limitations.
Power sector analysts note that even minor disturbances can trigger cascading failures due to the grid’s limited redundancy and ageing transmission infrastructure. In many cases, restoration efforts take several hours, leaving consumers to rely heavily on generators and
alternative power sources.
Friday’s outage once again disrupted commercial activities, particularly for small and medium-scale enterprises that depend on grid power to reduce operating costs.
Households across major cities also reported sudden blackouts, forcing many to turn to petrol and diesel-powered generators amid rising fuel prices.
The latest collapse comes at a time when the Federal Government has repeatedly pledged to stabilise the national grid and improve electricity supply as part of broader economic and industrial reforms.
In recent months, officials have highlighted ongoing transmission upgrades and sector restructuring aimed at reducing system failures.
Authorities are expected to provide updates on the cause of the collapse and progress on restoring power supply.
Meanwhile, power supply remained largely unavailable across the country at the time of filing this report.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
