KEY POINTS
- The Southeast blackout was caused by a temporary transmission line trip, not a national grid collapse.
- The fault occurred near Onitsha and affected limited areas served by two regional distribution companies.
- Power was quickly restored, and authorities urged the public to avoid spreading unverified reports.
The Nigerian Independent System Operator, NISO, has clarified that last Thursday’s power outage across parts of Nigeria’s Southeast was not the result of a national grid collapse but a temporary transmission fault.
The agency explained that misleading reports had circulated claiming a system failure occurred around 11:54 a.m., causing a regional blackout.
According to NISO, the disturbance actually began at about 11:47 a.m. when a protection system triggered on some 330kV transmission lines near the Onitsha Transmission Station.
This led to a brief outage affecting areas supplied through those lines, including parts of the networks served by Enugu Electricity Distribution Company and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company.
NISO Says Grid Remained Stable Nationwide
NISO stressed that the Nigerian national grid itself remained stable throughout the incident. Power generation in other regions continued normally, system frequency stayed within operational limits, and there was no nationwide disruption or loss of synchronisation.
NISO confirmed that engineers promptly restored the affected transmission lines and electricity supply has since been reinstated to impacted locations.
While acknowledging the inconvenience caused, the operator urged media outlets, stakeholders, and the public to rely only on verified technical updates from its office, emphasizing that it is the authoritative source for official grid information.
