Nigeria was plunged into widespread darkness on Friday afternoon following a total collapse of the national electricity grid, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has confirmed.
The system operator said the grid failure occurred at about 12:40pm, disrupting electricity supply across the country and cutting off power to all electricity distribution companies.
In a statement explaining the incident, NISO disclosed that the collapse was triggered by a system-wide disturbance that affected critical components of the national transmission network. The disturbance, it said, led to the simultaneous tripping of several 330 kilovolt transmission lines, while some power generation units were also forced to disconnect from the grid.
The development caused a sudden and severe drop in electricity generation nationwide.
Data released by the system operator showed that power generation, which had been above 4,500 megawatts earlier in the day, crashed to about 24 megawatts by around 1:30pm, leaving all electricity distribution companies with zero load allocation at the height of the outage.
As a result, electricity supply was completely cut off in several parts of the country, affecting residential areas, business districts, government offices, healthcare facilities and industrial locations.
NISO stated that grid restoration activities commenced immediately after the collapse, in line with established system recovery procedures. The operator explained that the restoration process was carried out gradually to ensure system stability and prevent further disruptions.
According to the update, electricity supply had been restored to a number of locations, including Abuja, Osogbo, Benin, Onitsha, Sakete, Jebba, Kainji, Shiroro and parts of Lagos, while efforts continued to bring other affected areas back on the grid.
The system operator also disclosed that a detailed investigation has been launched to fully determine the cause and contributing factors behind the disturbance that led to the collapse. It assured electricity consumers that all necessary steps were being taken to stabilise the grid and prevent a recurrence.
Friday’s incident marks the first national grid collapse recorded in 2026, adding to a series of power system disruptions that have continued to challenge electricity supply across the country.
NISO said further updates would be provided as grid restoration progresses and findings from the ongoing investigation become available.
