The financial woes plaguing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) show no signs of abating, as electricity distribution companies (DisCos) remitted a meagre N21.95 billion—just 9.33%—to the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc for N235.09 billion worth of electricity taken from the National Grid in March 2024.
Documents obtained by Vanguard reveal that, due to various federal government policies, the DisCos were issued an actual invoice of N22.26 billion for the total energy taken from the grid, while the government undertook to cover the remaining N212.8 billion—none of which was paid.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) set the DisCos’ Remittance Obligation at 9.47% for the March payment cycle, leaving the government responsible for 90.53% of the electricity bill for the month.
Of the N21.95 billion remitted by the DisCos, N17.238 billion was paid to power generation companies (GenCos), covering just 7.31% of their total invoice of N235.66 billion. The Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) received the remaining N4.72 billion, despite sending an invoice of N50.65 billion to the GenCos for March.
This poor remittance occurred despite a NERC report indicating that the DisCos collected N100.44 billion in revenue for March.
An investigation by Vanguard revealed that the federal government’s decision to subsidize electricity tariffs, coupled with its failure to meet financial obligations to the market, has pushed the sector to the brink of financial collapse. Despite a budget provision of N450 billion for electricity subsidies in 2024, the government has yet to release any funds to the sector, more than three months into the budget’s implementation.
Power generation companies have raised alarms over their deteriorating financial status, citing a staggering N1.3 trillion market debt. They claim to receive the least attention in market payments.
