Nigeria Faces Widespread Power Outage as National Grid Collapses Again

After the collapse, power supply to the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) fell to just 20 MW as of Friday afternoon.

Millions of Nigerians were thrown into near-total darkness on Friday after the country’s national grid experienced a major collapse, with power generation plummeting to just 20 megawatts (MW).

Following the collapse, power allocation to the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) fell dramatically. According to data released by the Nigeria National Grid on its verified X (formerly Twitter) account at 1:20 PM, only Ibadan DisCo received any meaningful supply, with 20 MW. All other DisCos—including Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola—recorded zero MW.

The incident comes barely three weeks after the fragile electricity system slipped into emergency mode on December 29, 2025, when the national grid similarly collapsed, leaving most DisCos without supply.

Total generation plunged sharply within one hour, falling from 2,052.37 MW to just 139.92 MW between 2 PM and 3 PM, signaling a major system disturbance. This sudden drop led to uneven power allocation, with only three DisCos able to receive any load. Ibadan DisCo received 80 MW, while Abuja and Benin DisCos each took 20 MW. All other distribution companies were unable to draw power.

This marks the latest in a series of national grid failures. In September 2025, the grid collapsed again, plunging the country into darkness, and earlier in March 2025, several areas, including Lagos, were affected by another major blackout.

The collapse comes just days after the government celebrated a “historic rise” in power generation to 6,000 MW. However, the sudden disturbance sent generation levels crashing below 1,000 MW, down from approximately 4,000 MW prior to the incident.