Addressing the national grid challenge

The recent national grid collapse has underscored the urgent need to declare a national emergency on the power sector. Despite reforms in the sector and billions of naira invested in it, the nation’s power supply has been epileptic. Unfortunately, the situation appears to be getting worse with each passing day. The recent collapse of the national grid, the third in one month, has increased the worries of many electricity consumers in the country. Many companies now depend on diesel for power generation.  

Due to the national grid collapse, load allocation to the electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) came to zero mega watts, indicating that no Disco supplied electricity throughout last Tuesday. The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) explained that the outage followed a simultaneous tripping of several transmission lines that resulted in total collapse of the interconnected national grid.  Available data show that every minute that the national grid collapses; the economy loses an estimated N1.9billion.  

The persistent collapse of the grid has underlined a deep structural and operational weakness in the power transmission system. It is an indication that the relevant agency has failed to find solution to the problems hampering steady electricity supply. This poses a threat to manufacturers and other businesses. This is unacceptable, especially at this critical time when the economy is expected to move from crisis management and stabilisation, to a consolidation phase. 

Therefore, restoring grid stability must be treated as an emergency. President Bola Tinubu needs to be reminded that he promised to fix the power sector during his campaign. He should fulfill his promise. Sadly, the national grid had collapsed more than 200 times in the past 10 years. Figures from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reveal that the country recorded 105 grid failures in 9 years, of which 93 were recorded during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari. 

Also, from June 2023 to December, 2023, three grid collapses were recorded and 12 incidents in 2024. In 2025, four major grid collapses occurred on February 12, March 7, September 10, and December 29, 2025, respectively. While some reports highlighted these specific four incidents, the national grid is reported to have remained volatile throughout last year and even now.  According to experts, the country may experience more grid collapses in 2026. The erratic power supply will kill manufacturing and other enterprises. The federal government invested about $4.36billion secured from World Bank in the past ten years to address major challenges of the sector. Some of these challenges include the rehabilitation of power infrastructure, distribution reforms and renewable energy initiatives. Some of the loans signed in September, 2024 included the Sustainable Power and Irrigation Project, valued at $500million. There are other three components under the Nigeria Distribution Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, totaling $750million, approved in December, 2023. These projects represent $2.06billion or 47.25 per cent of the total loan portfolio. Last week, the federal government announced the issuance of N501billion inaugural bond for Generation Companies (Gencos) under the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme (PPSDRP). Yet there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Grid failure remains persistent even as consumers have seen their tariffs increased by over 200 per cent in the last one year alone. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has raised the alarm that its members’ production lines nationwide have been impacted badly despite being billed over 250 per cent hike in tariff by the regulatory authorities. 

There is no doubt that the recurring collapse of the national grid has stalled the country’s economic growth. Our industries will not develop without stable power supply. Many investors have relocated to neighbouring countries because of poor power supply. Last week, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and other stakeholders called for a forensic audit of the national grid. Perhaps the government will use this opportunity to address the national grid collapse.  We urge the government to overhaul the power sector and ensure stable power supply. Revamping the sector will stem the frequent collapse of the national grid. Though Nigeria has an installed capacity of about 12,500MW, the actual output barely exceeds 4,000MW. This is far below the government’s projected 6,000MW. According to the government, this is largely due to shortage of gas supply, inadequate maintenance and obsolete equipment. Our power generation is far below that of Ghana, Egypt, and South Africa. These countries have consistently maintained a power supply output of about 40,000MW in the past ten years. The distribution network in Nigeria is not efficient. It is riddled with transformer failure and vandalism, theft, regulatory inconsistencies and insufficient funding. This can explain why many Nigerians depend on generators for power supply.  The government should emulate Egypt and South Africa in revamping our power sector. At the same time, there is need to invest more in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. This will enable adequate monitoring and control of the national grid. It will also allow operators to detect faults, manage loads effectively and respond swiftly to challenges. Currently, Nigeria is 67th in the global electricity ranking, the largest electricity deficit in the world. This is not good for a country with enormous gas supply and huge hydro power system. There is need to change the ugly narrative.