January 17, 2026

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Nigerians Plunged into Thick Darkness as National Grid Collapses for the Umpteenth Time

Nigerians Plunged into Thick Darkness as National Grid Collapses for the Umpteenth Time

Nigerians Plunged into Thick Darkness as National Grid Collapses for the Umpteenth Time

Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Monday afternoon, cutting power supply across most parts of the country and leaving homes and businesses in darkness.

Distribution load figures released at 3:12pm showed electricity delivery at near-zero levels nationwide.

Data from the Distribution Companies (Discos) indicated that only Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) received power at the time, with allocations of 30 megawatts (MW) and 20MW respectively.

Checks by THISDAY revealed that all other Discos — including Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt and Yola — recorded zero megawatts.

Total electricity distribution across the country stood at just 50MW, far below normal operating levels.

The collapse triggered a widespread blackout that disrupted households, businesses and critical public infrastructure dependent on stable electricity supply. The scale of the outage suggests one of the most severe power disruptions recorded in recent years.

As of Monday evening, efforts to restore the grid were reported to be ongoing.

However, no official explanation had been issued by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) or the Federal Ministry of Power regarding the cause of the collapse or a timeline for full restoration.

Nigeria’s electricity grid has suffered repeated collapses in recent years, often resulting in prolonged outages and significant disruptions to economic activities nationwide.

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