Nigeria was plunged into yet another nationwide blackout on Wednesday after the national electricity grid collapsed, drawing sharp criticism from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and raising renewed concerns about the viability of the country’s power sector.
The Federal Government attributed the system failure to one of the electricity generation companies (GenCos), while the NLC blasted the administration for what it described as the chronic mismanagement of the privatised power industry.
Nationwide Outage and Grid Performance
Electricity supply across the country went off at about 11:20 a.m., according to industry data. Before the collapse, power generation had reached a peak of 3,972 megawatts by 10 a.m., dropping sharply to 2,917 MW at 11 a.m., and further plummeting to just 20.80 MW by midday. All 21 power plants feeding into the grid recorded zero output by noon, underscoring the scale of the system breakdown.
By 6 p.m., partial restoration had begun, with about 1,505 MW already returned to the grid. The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed the disruption, telling customers that the outage stemmed from a nationwide system collapse.
“Please be informed that the power outage currently being experienced is due to a loss of supply from the national grid at 11:23 a.m., affecting supply across our franchise areas,” AEDC said in a statement, assuring customers that efforts were underway to restore normal service.
System Operator’s Explanation
The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) issued an update explaining that the collapse followed the tripping of a GenCo, which triggered a significant load imbalance and cascaded into a total shutdown.
“The system disturbance occurred at 11:20 hrs on 10/09/2025 due to the tripping of a GenCo, which caused a severe load drop cascading to other GenCos,” NISO said.
The operator confirmed that restoration efforts began at 11:45 a.m., starting with Abuja through supply from the Shiroro power plant, and promised a full-scale investigation to determine both the immediate and underlying causes of the failure.
Labour Union Rejects FG’s N4tn Bailout Plan
In a strongly worded statement, the NLC rejected the Federal Government’s proposed N4 trillion ($2.7 billion) financial intervention in electricity companies, calling it a reckless misuse of public funds.
“The NLC has been made aware of a promised N4tn government payment for these same failed operators. We reject this outright! To sink another kobo of public money into the pockets of these private entities is an act of economic betrayal against the Nigerian people,” NLC President Joe Ajaero declared.
The union accused the government of rewarding failure instead of addressing structural inefficiencies that have crippled the sector.
Decade of Collapses and Lingering Questions
Nigeria’s national grid has suffered approximately 105 collapses in the last decade, with 93 of those occurring under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023). Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in mid-2023, the country has continued to experience recurrent collapses, including one in February 2025.
The NLC described the repeated breakdowns as evidence of a failed privatisation experiment. “This latest collapse is a stark indictment of this administration and the entire neoliberal, pro-market charade that has defined the power sector since its so-called privatisation,” the union stated.
Allegations of Political Patronage in Regulation
The labour body also faulted what it called incompetence and political patronage in the appointment of regulators, citing the controversial selection of a former local government chairman with no energy expertise to head the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
“This is not an appointment for competence; it is a political settlement, a reward for loyalty in a system that thrives on patronage at the expense of merit,” Ajaero said.
Call for Public-Led Investment and Sector Audit
The NLC urged the government to redirect the proposed N4tn bailout into a state-led initiative focused on expanding generation and transmission capacity. The union also demanded a comprehensive public audit of the sector since privatisation, insisting that Nigerians will no longer tolerate systemic darkness.
“Since the government has N4tn to invest in the sector, we suggest that the funds must be redirected towards a public-led initiative to build new generation capacity and revitalise the transmission infrastructure instead of handing it over to the GenCos and DisCos,” the NLC stated.
The labour body concluded with a warning: “This is not a plea; it is a declaration of intent. The light must come on, by any means necessary.”
