Nigeria has been plunged into darkness following the shutdown of the national grid by members of the Labour Unions. The national grid system dropped to zero megawatts on Monday, cutting off power supply to all eleven electricity distribution companies in the country, according to reports from Channels Television.

Ndidi Mbah, General Manager of Public Affairs at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), stated that the nationwide blackout occurred after TCN staff, under the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), shut down all power substations across the country at approximately 2:19 AM on Monday. This action caused the national grid to drop to zero megawatts.

“At about 1:15 AM, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that operators were forcibly removed from the control room. Those who resisted were beaten, with some sustaining injuries. Without any control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero,” Mbah said.

Additional substations, including those in Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo, were also shut down by the Labour Union. Some transmission lines were opened due to the union’s activities.

On the power generation side, Mbah noted that units from various generating stations were forced to shut down. “The Jebba Generating Station had to shut down one of its units, while three others in the same substation shut down due to high frequency. This led to system instability and eventually the national grid shutdown at 2:19 AM.”

Channels Television reported that Labour Unions, after a four-hour meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on Sunday evening in Abuja, decided to proceed with the nationwide industrial action scheduled to start on Monday.

“For now, we don’t have the power to call off the strike. Tomorrow morning, the strike will commence as we consider their (NASS) plea to call it off,” said Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), after the meeting.

Osifo and Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), met with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas in Abuja as part of last-minute efforts by legislators to persuade the workers to cancel their planned strike for a new minimum wage.

The decision of the Labour Unions followed a deadlock with the Federal Government over a new national minimum wage and the reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariffs. The unions argued that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 is insufficient for the average Nigerian worker, noting that not all governors are paying this wage, which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act mandates a review every five years to meet contemporary economic demands.

Regarding efforts to restore power, Mbah said that at about 3:23 AM, TCN began grid recovery using the Shiroro substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation.

“The Labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide. We will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to restore normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,” the statement added.