Nigeria’s national power grid suffered another major breakdown on Monday, plunging much of the country into darkness and forcing the electricity sector to rely on emergency supply measures.
According to reports, the collapse triggered a steep fall in electricity generation, disrupting power distribution nationwide.
Figures released by the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) reveal that total generation nosedived within a single hour, crashing from 2,052.37 megawatts at about 2 pm to just 139.92 megawatts by 3 pm.
The sharp decline severely limited the ability of electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to deliver power to consumers.
Of the 11 DisCos operating across the country, only three managed to receive any electricity during the outage. Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) received the largest share at 80MW, while Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Benin DisCo each got 20MW.
All other DisCos — including Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola — were completely cut off from the national grid.
Independent checks later in the day confirmed that as of 3:50 pm, power supply was still restricted to IBEDC, AEDC, and Benin DisCo, with the rest of the country remaining without grid electricity.
The incident once again exposes the vulnerability of Nigeria’s power infrastructure, where a single system disturbance can trigger a nationwide blackout. With generation falling below 200MW, the grid was unable to meet the basic electricity needs of households, businesses, and critical services.
As of the time of reporting, authorities had not issued an official explanation for the collapse, nor provided a clear timeline for full restoration.
The latest outage adds to a growing list of grid failures, following similar nationwide disruptions recorded in March and September 2025.
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The collapse is particularly striking given recent government assurances that national power generation had reached 6,000MW — a figure that plunged to below 1,000MW during Monday’s system failure.
