Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, has criticised the latest collapse of Nigeria’s national power grid, describing it as evidence of a worsening national emergency in the electricity sector.
The national grid reportedly collapsed on Friday after electricity generation dropped dramatically from over 4,500 megawatts to about 24 megawatts at approximately 1:30 p.m., plunging homes and businesses across the country into darkness.
The incident disrupted power supply to millions of consumers nationwide, as all 23 generation companies connected to the grid allegedly lost output, leading to zero electricity allocation to the country’s 11 distribution companies.
Reacting to the development, Obi, in a statement posted on his official X handle on Saturday titled “2026: The Collapse Continues,” said the latest grid failure reflected a troubling pattern already seen in previous years.
He recalled that the first collapse of the national grid in 2025 also occurred in January and was followed by several similar incidents throughout the year.
“In January 2025, we witnessed the first grid collapse of that year, which was followed by several other collapses. Now in January 2026, the national shame has commenced with yesterday’s collapse,” Obi stated.
The former Anambra State governor further lamented Nigeria’s poor electricity situation, noting that the country has remained at the bottom of global electricity access rankings for the past three consecutive years, despite its vast human and natural resources.
