National Grid Collapses Again, Second Time in Five Days

Nigeria’s national electricity grid collapsed on Tuesday morning, marking the second complete system failure in less than a week.

The outage caused widespread blackouts across major cities, including Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Kaduna. This is the second collapse since Friday, January 23, 2026, when the first blackout of the year plunged much of the country into darkness. Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) confirmed that power generation and allocation to all 11 electricity distribution companies fell to zero, indicating a total shutdown of the national grid. The repeated failure underscores the vulnerability of Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure. According to industry reports, the collapse was triggered by multiple 330 kV transmission lines tripping and generating units disconnecting simultaneously, highlighting systemic weaknesses in generation and distribution, outdated infrastructure, and inadequate reserve capacity. Past studies also point to vandalism of transmission infrastructure and poor maintenance as contributing factors. Following the first collapse, technicians from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and other agencies worked to restore power to parts of Abuja, Lagos, Osogbo, Benin, Onitsha, and other cities. Efforts to stabilize the grid are ongoing, but full restoration has not yet been confirmed.