NISO: Report of Grid Failure in South-east Incorrect 

Stories by Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has disputed a claim that a ‘system collapse’ occurred, resulting in a total blackout across the South-east region of Nigeria.

In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, it clarified that a ‘protection trip’ was recorded on some 330kV transmission lines around the Onitsha transmission station, explaining that the tripping of these lines led to a temporary and localised outage affecting certain areas supplied through the impacted transmission corridors.

However, it said the national grid remained stable and fully operational, while generation across other regions was not disrupted and system frequency remained within acceptable operational limits.

“Our attention has been drawn to certain media reports  alleging that a system collapse occurred at approximately 11:54 hours on Thursday, 19th February 2026, resulting in a total blackout across the South-east region. We wish to categorically state that no system collapse occurred on the Nigerian national grid on the said date and time.

“At approximately 11:47 hours, a protection trip was recorded on some 330kV transmission lines around the Onitsha transmission station. The tripping of these lines led to a temporary and localised outage affecting certain areas supplied through the impacted transmission corridors, including portions of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) networks.

“However, the national grid remained stable and fully operational. Generation across other regions was not disrupted. System frequency remained within acceptable operational limits and there was no widespread loss of synchronism or nationwide blackout, conditions that would characterize a system collapse,” it stated.