Nigeria experienced another nationwide blackout on Friday afternoon after the national electricity grid collapsed, cutting power supply across the country.
Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator showed that the failure occurred at about 1:00 pm, when electricity generation and load allocation dropped to zero for all electricity distribution companies. Power output reportedly crashed from over 4,500 megawatts earlier in the day to about 24 megawatts by 1:30 pm, before shutting down completely.
A review of the national load profile confirmed that all distribution companies — including those serving Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Yola — recorded zero load, indicating a total system outage.
The collapse came despite strong electricity demand in major cities earlier in the day. Before the incident, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company was receiving about 639 megawatts, while Ikeja Electric had an allocation of roughly 630 megawatts, reflecting high nationwide demand.
All 23 power generation plants connected to the national grid reportedly lost output during the incident, resulting in zero power supply to the country’s 11 distribution companies.
As of the time of filing this report, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which oversees the national grid, had not disclosed the cause of the failure. While restoration efforts were said to be ongoing, there was no clear timeline for full recovery, and attempts to reach TCN officials for comment were unsuccessful.
This incident is the first recorded national grid collapse in 2026, coming just weeks after a similar failure on December 29, 2025, which also triggered widespread outages.
In recent years, repeated grid collapses have been blamed on technical faults, poor maintenance of transmission infrastructure, and instability in power generation. Industry stakeholders continue to call on the government and power sector operators to strengthen safeguards and contingency measures to prevent recurring system failures.
