Nigeria faced a nationwide power outage on Wednesday after its national electricity grid collapsed. While the government blamed the failure on one of the generation companies, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) accused authorities of mismanaging the sector.

Power went off around 11:20 am, dropping generation from 3,972 megawatts at 10 am to just 20.8 MW by noon. All 21 power plants were offline at the height of the blackout.

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) said the outage started when a single generation company tripped, triggering a chain reaction across the grid. Restoration began at 11:45 am with Abuja receiving power from the Shiroro plant. By 6 pm, 1,505 MW had been restored, with efforts to fully stabilize the grid ongoing.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company assured customers that power would return as the system is restored and that relevant authorities are coordinating the response.

The NLC rejected the government’s plan to invest N4 trillion into electricity companies, describing it as rewarding inefficiency. NLC President Joe Ajaero criticized the privatization model and political appointments, calling for public-led investment and experienced leadership to fix the sector.

Over the past decade, the grid has collapsed about 105 times, demonstrating persistent problems despite government efforts. The NLC has called for a full audit and warned it will take action if reforms are not implemented.