Nigeria was plunged into widespread darkness on Friday following the collapse of the national electricity grid, the first such incident recorded in 2026.
The system failure occurred around 1 pm, when load allocation to all electricity distribution companies (DisCos) fell to zero.
Data obtained from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts (MW), leading to a total shutdown of electricity supply across the country.
A review of the national distribution load profile at the time of the incident indicated that all DisCos — including Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Yola — recorded zero load, confirming a nationwide outage.
The collapse came shortly after grid operators reported strong electricity demand in major urban centres.
Before the system failure, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company was receiving about 639 MW, while Ikeja Electric drew approximately 630 MW, reflecting what officials described as robust demand across key cities.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which manages the national grid, had yet to disclose the cause of the collapse as of the time of filing this report.
Although restoration efforts were said to be ongoing, the timeline for full recovery remained unclear. Attempts to reach TCN officials for immediate comment were unsuccessful.
