Breaking News: National grid collapses again
By Wellington Jopelo
Nigeria’s power supply was plunged into darkness as the National Power Grid collapsed once more, disrupting electricity to millions of homes and businesses across the country.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that electricity generation nosedived from over 4,500 megawatts to a mere 24 megawatts as of 1:30 pm, leaving the 11 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) without any power allocation.
All 23 power generation plants connected to the grid reportedly lost output during the incident, marking a complete system shutdown. The cause of the collapse could not be immediately ascertained, and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had yet to issue an official statement at the time of reporting.
This is the first grid collapse recorded in 2026, occurring just weeks after a similar failure on December 29, 2025, which also left large parts of the country without power.
In recent years, power sector experts have attributed recurring grid failures to a combination of technical faults, inadequate maintenance of transmission lines, and fluctuations in generation capacity.
Stakeholders have renewed calls on the federal government and power operators to implement robust contingency measures and modernize infrastructure to prevent such systemic failures in the future.
The latest blackout underscores the persistent fragility of Nigeria’s power sector and highlights the urgent need for coordinated intervention to safeguard electricity supply nationwide.