By Joy Yesufu
Nigeria’s national electricity grid on Friday experienced its first system collapse of the year, plunging power generation to zero megawatts and triggering a nationwide blackout.
Data obtained from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that electricity generation dropped to zero megawatts (MW) at about 1:00 p.m., with load allocation to all 11 electricity distribution companies equally falling to zero.
The affected distribution companies include Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Yola, all of which recorded zero power allocation during the outage.
The latest incident adds to a troubling history of grid failures in the country.
In 2025 alone, the national grid suffered multiple collapses, with the last recorded incident occurring on December 29.
The recurring system failures have persisted despite ongoing infrastructure upgrades aimed at improving grid stability and increasing transmission capacity.
In a recent development, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) announced that it had restored an additional 450MW of generation capacity to the national grid following the completion of scheduled maintenance at the Geregu National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plant.
Similarly, on November 9, 2025, NISO disclosed that it conducted a synchronisation test between Nigeria’s power grid and the wider West African power network in partnership with the West African Power Pool Information and Coordination Centre (WAPP-ICC), a move intended to enhance regional grid stability.
However, Friday’s system collapse has once again raised concerns about the resilience of Nigeria’s power infrastructure and the effectiveness of ongoing reforms in the electricity sector.
