The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has confirmed that the country's electricity grid collapsed on Friday, plunging Africa's most populous country into darkness. He attributed the accident to simultaneous tripping of several 330kV transmission lines as well as disconnection of some grid-connected generating units.
In a statement issued to journalists, the operator said the national grid experienced a system-wide disturbance, resulting in a complete outage of the interconnected network.
NISO however said that following the outage, system restoration activities began at approximately 13:15, in accordance with established grid restoration and recovery procedures.
“Preliminary operational reports indicate that the disturbance was associated with the simultaneous tripping of multiple 330kV transmission lines as well as the disconnection of some grid-connected generating units. These events collectively contributed to the collapse of the system at the indicated time.
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“Following the outage, system restoration activities commenced at approximately 13:15 hrs, in accordance with established grid restoration and recovery procedures. As of the time of this update, power supply has been successfully restored to Abuja, Osogbo, Benin, Onitsha, Sakete, Jebba, Kanji, Shiroro and parts of Lagos, while restoration efforts are progressively underway in other parts of the country.
“A detailed investigation into the root and contributory causes of the disturbance is currently ongoing. Full restoration and stabilization of the grid remains the highest operational priority,” the statement said.
BusinessDay had earlier reported on the power grid collapse, which was expected to occur for the first time in 2026 and reignited questions about the country's long-unstable power infrastructure.
According to data collected by BusinessDay, the national grid failed at about 11:40 am Nigerian time.
BusinessDay's check on the national distribution load profile at 1pm showed that the load of all distribution companies (Discos) including Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Yola was 0.
The outage occurred shortly after operators reported strong demand in major urban centres, with Abuja Electricity Distribution Company receiving 639 MW and Ikeja Electric receiving 630 MW before the system was shut down.
