On Friday, March 7, 2025, the national grid experienced a significant system disturbance, plunging several parts of the country, particularly Lagos, into darkness. This unexpected blackout occurred just as the Federal Government was celebrating what it described as a historic achievement in power generation, which reached 6,000MW. The outage raised questions about the stability of the national grid and its ability to handle such generation levels.
According to reports, the power generation suddenly dropped below 1,000MW at around 2 p.m., after previously standing at about 4,000MW earlier in the day. The sharp decline in power supply was a cause for concern, as it resulted in widespread blackouts, especially in key cities like Lagos. The highest generation recorded on Friday was 5,284MW at 5 a.m., a figure that significantly dwindled as the day progressed.
By 4 p.m., the generation levels had fallen further to 803MW, as several generation plants had yet to restore their supply to the national grid. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which is responsible for managing the grid, had not responded to the incident by the time of reporting. Attempts to contact the TCN spokesperson, Ndidi Mbah, for a statement were unsuccessful, as phone calls went unanswered.
As a result of the power outage, local electricity distribution companies were forced to issue notices to inform their customers about the situation. The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) informed its customers via a public notice, stating, “Dear esteemed customer, Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today 07/03/2025 @ 14:00hrs, affecting supply within our network.” The notice also indicated that efforts to restore power were underway, in collaboration with critical stakeholders.
Similarly, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) also released a statement addressing its affected customers. “Dear valued customer, kindly be informed there was a system disruption on 7th March 2025 at 13:59hrs, which has resulted in a loss of power supply across our network,” the company stated. The EKEDC assured customers that it was working closely with partners to restore power supply as quickly as possible and promised to keep customers updated on the progress.
The power outage has prompted concerns about the overall stability and reliability of the national grid, especially at a time when the Federal Government is promoting the significant rise in power generation capacity. Critics have questioned whether the grid’s infrastructure is equipped to handle the increasing generation levels, with such disturbances becoming more frequent.
As of the evening of March 7, 2025, both Ikeja and Eko electricity distribution companies were still working to restore power.
