Breaking: Nigerians plunged into darkness as national grid collapses for first time in 2026

Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Friday afternoon, throwing several parts of the country into blackout in the first recorded grid failure of 2026.

Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that power generation dropped to zero megawatts at about 1 p.m., with electricity supply to all 11 distribution companies completely cut off.

The affected distribution companies include Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Yola, all of which recorded zero load allocation at the time of the collapse.

The latest incident comes barely weeks after a series of grid failures recorded in 2025, the most recent of which occurred on December 29, highlighting persistent challenges in Nigeria’s power sector despite ongoing reform efforts.

The collapse also occurred months after the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) announced the restoration of an additional 450 megawatts to the national grid following the completion of maintenance work at the Geregu National Integrated Power Project.

In a bid to improve grid stability, NISO had earlier disclosed that on November 9, 2025, it collaborated with the West African Power Pool Information and Coordination Centre to conduct a synchronisation test connecting Nigeria’s grid to the wider West African electricity network.

Despite these interventions, Friday’s system failure underscores the fragility of the national grid and renewed concerns over the reliability of power supply across the country.