Nigeria experienced a nationwide blackout on Friday after the national power grid suffered its first system collapse of the year, forcing electricity generation across the country down to zero.
Figures obtained from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) showed that total power output dropped to 0 megawatts, while electricity allocation to all 11 distribution companies was completely cut off by about 1pm.
The outage affected all distribution zones, including Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Yola, leaving homes, businesses and critical services without power.
The incident adds to a troubling pattern of grid failures recorded throughout 2025, with the most recent collapse occurring on December 29. The persistent disruptions have continued despite ongoing efforts to strengthen grid infrastructure and improve operational stability.
Only recently, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) announced that it had returned an additional 450 megawatts to the grid following the completion of routine maintenance at the Geregu National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) facility.
In another attempt to improve reliability, NISO disclosed that on November 9, 2025, it worked with the West African Power Pool Information and Coordination Centre (WAPP-ICC) to carry out a synchronisation test linking Nigeria’s grid with the wider regional power network.
