Millions of Nigerians were plunged into darkness on Monday night after the national electricity infrastructure suffered system failure across the country. 

Electricity distributors said they did not receive energy from the Transmission Company of Nigeria starting at about 7:00 p.m., as millions returned home after a long day at work. 

Abuja Electricity said the failure started at 6:58 p.m. and assured customers that efforts had been ramped up to address the crisis.

“Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 6:58 p.m. today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas,” AEDC wrote in a statement posted across its social media platforms.

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) experienced a similar grid failure and appealed to consumers to “bear with us” until the power is restored.

“Kindly be informed there was a system collapse at 18:48 hrs, which has resulted to a loss of power supply across our network,” EKEDC said in a statement Monday evening.

This was not the first time the grid would collapse as it has broken down more than twice this year, throwing citizens into dayslong darkness.

The national grid collapse compounds the woes of Nigerians still reeling and bemoaning the spike in fuel price as NNPC adjusted petrol dispensers from N890 to N1030 in the nation’s capital last week. 

The jump in fuel prices, exacerbated by skyrocketing inflation, has further plunged Nigerians into extreme poverty under President Bola Tinubu, who was currently lounging in the UK on a two-week vacation. 

NNPCL stations, the only ones selling at N1030, had long queues with desperate Nigerians sleeping inside their vehicles overnight in front of the stations, all in a bid to get fuel.

The majority of Nigerians rely heavily on power supply from the federal government to power their homes and work facilities as they can no longer afford to fuel their generators with petrol selling as high as N1,500 on the black market.

If the national grid is not swiftly fixed, many businesses that depend on the government for electricity will incur substantial losses.

Nigerians criticised Mr Tinubu for globetrotting at a time when the country was battling its worst economic crisis and increasing fuel costs without first implementing the N70,000 minimum wage across all 36 states.