Power generation companies have said the Federal Government is yet to begin the payment of the N3.3tn power sector debt approved by President Bola Tinubu in April, despite official assurances that implementation of the settlement plan had commenced.
The generation companies, under the aegis of the Association of Power Generation Companies, also rejected the Federal Government’s reduction of the debt from about N4tn to N3.3tn, insisting that the full amount remains outstanding.
Speaking during a webinar on Monday organised by the APGC, the association’s Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, said no payment had been made to most generation companies under the debt settlement arrangement.
“You know that this acceptance of the government is like a moving target. Earlier, the government said the debt was N2.3tn. About a month or two after, it increased to N2.8tn.
“The last one was N3.3tn before they appointed a new special adviser on power. Now, let me tell you that from that N3.3tn or N2.8tn, to date, we have not received a dime. Nothing has been received by the GenCos,” she stated.
The Statesman recalls that presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga had announced on April 5 that President Tinubu approved a plan to settle longstanding debts in the electricity sector under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.
According to Onanuga, N3.3tn was agreed upon as a full and final settlement of legacy debts accumulated between February 2015 and March 2025 following a verification exercise.
He also stated that implementation had begun, with 15 power plants signing settlement agreements worth N2.3tn, while the Federal Government had raised N501bn to support the payments.
However, Ogaji maintained that generation companies had not received any payment from the approved debt settlement.
She added that the N501bn bond earlier raised by the government was still being disbursed.
Ogaji said the N500bn bond raised by the government is still being disbursed.
“The N500bn bond that they said they raised by December and January this year, as I speak to you, they’ve not even finished disbursing. I believe that they are planning the disbursement until the end of the election,” she stated.
On whether generation companies had accepted the Federal Government’s N3.3tn debt figure, Ogaji said they had not.
“We have not accepted N3.3tn; the GenCos have not accepted it because when we reconciled our debt to the gas suppliers, we owed them over N4tn,” she said.
According to her, gas suppliers also rejected any proposal that would reduce the amount owed to them.
“And we also engaged the gas suppliers to tell them that the government was proposing to remove 50 per cent of what we are requesting, 70 per cent of which money belongs to the gas suppliers.
“We ask them if we should accept. They responded and said we’re on our own. The gasCos said they didn’t have any contract with the government, but we continue to owe them to the last dime, and they are not going to concede to even one naira,” she said.
Ogaji explained that only five generation companies agreed to the terms attached to the Federal Government’s bond programme.
“When the FG floated the N500bn bond, they said they would give GenCos 50 per cent, that is, a 50 per cent cut of their current debts. The GenCos rejected it, except for five: Geregu, Ibom Power, FIPL, NDPHC, and Mabon Energy. These are the five receiving payments; they signed that bond,” she added.
She added that no other generation company had received payment under the arrangement.
“Nothing has been done about the N3.3tn or the N6.8tn, which has now ballooned to over N7tn, and still growing,” Ogaji said.
In January, the Federal Government said it had taken steps to resolve the sector’s debt burden through the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said at the time that five generation companies operating 14 power plants had signed settlement agreements with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc following the issuance of a N501bn bond.
According to Verheijen, the five companies — First Independent Power Limited, Geregu Power Plc, Ibom Power Company Limited, Mabon Limited and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited — agreed to a negotiated settlement valued at N827.16bn, to be paid in four instalments.
