Nigeria’s national power grid suffered another disruption yesterday, the second in four days, triggering widespread outages that disrupted businesses and renewed concerns over the economic cost of power instability, even as the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) described the incident as a partial system disturbance.

The disruption occurred at about 10:48am, leaving electricity distribution companies (DisCos) without load allocation and plunging several parts of the country into darkness. Data from the system operator showed that power generation, which was above 4,000 megawatts (MW) the previous day, dropped sharply, with all 12 DisCos initially recording zero allocation.



However, in a press statement, NISO said the incident was not a total grid collapse. According to the system operator, the disturbance originated from the Gombe Transmission Substation and rapidly propagated to Jebba, Kainji and Ayede transmission substations. The voltage disturbance led to the tripping of some transmission lines and generating units, resulting in a partial system collapse.

NISO said corrective actions were immediately implemented, with restoration beginning around 11:11am and subsequently completed. “The national grid has been fully restored and electricity supply across the affected areas has since returned to normal,” the statement said.

As at 4.56pm, checks showed that the grid was recovering, with 10 generation companies supplying about 1,417MW. Major plants, including Egbin Power as well as Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba hydropower stations, were still not fully back on the grid at the time. Azura Edo Independent Power Plant, generating 395MW, and Delta Power at 355MW, were the highest contributors during the recovery period.

Several DisCos confirmed the outage through messages to customers. Abuja DisCo announced a loss of supply across its network, while Port Harcourt and Eko DisCos also attributed widespread outages to the system disturbance, assuring customers that restoration efforts were ongoing.

Reacting, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) lamented the economic losses associated with repeated grid failures. Its President, Mr. Gabriel Idahosa, said frequent system disturbances and poor power supply have continued to undermine business operations, productivity and growth, especially in agriculture and manufacturing.

Similarly, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said recurring grid failures erode investor confidence and raise operating costs for businesses. He stressed that no economy can achieve meaningful growth without reliable and affordable electricity.

National Secretary of the Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, Mr. Uket Obonga, also criticised the persistent outages, noting that consumers, particularly those on estimated billing, still pay unchanged charges despite supply disruptions. He blamed weak capacity and lack of accountability in grid management.

Despite reforms, including the unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria into the Transmission Service Provider and NISO, stakeholders said sustained investment, decentralisation and stronger accountability are needed to curb recurring grid disturbances and limit economic losses.