- Speaking during an oversight visit by the house of representatives committee on power, Adelabu said the federal government is gradually repaying the liability
The federal government says it has begun clearing the debt it is owing generation companies (GenCos) to boost liquidity in the power sector
Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, who made this known on Monday, disclosed that N205 billion out of the N1.3 trillion debt owed to the GenCos have been paid.
On February 15, Adelabu called for an end to electricity subsidy, saying Nigeria’s debt to power generation and gas companies was N3 trillion.
The minister, on May 16, announced that President Bola Tinubu had approved the gradual payment of the debt owed to the companies.
Speaking during an oversight visit by the house of representatives committee on power, Adelabu said the federal government is gradually repaying the liability.
“In terms of markets and liquidity, government is also owing these companies, but they have started paying them little by little,” he said.
“Just about three weeks ago, out of the about N1.3 trillion we are owing the generation companies (GenCos), we were able to pay them N205 billion.
“But I will plead with the members of the house committee to help us mount pressure on the executive to continue to pay these people.”
Adelabu said given the current economic hardship, including petrol scarcity, Nigerians should not be subjected to another national blackout, which would further diminish their quality of life.
He said Nigeria must change its power sector infrastructure and revamp the existing tariff policy, stressing that all segments of the power sector need comprehensive improvements.
“A lot of the towers are falling. The substations are dilapidated with very old transformers, some of them were installed in the 60s. We have not been able to replace them,” he said.
“The same thing with distribution infrastructure. The substations at the distribution level are also not working properly,” he said.
Adelabu described the metering gap as significant, noting that out of over 12 million electricity customers nationwide, only about five million have been metered — leaving a gap of over seven million meters.
He said the ministry’s mandate is to install two million meters annually for the next five years.
The minister said the power sector, which had been considered stagnant for the past 15 years, is now making a strong comeback.