From News Editor
The federal government has expressed concern that several countries including Togo and Benin, have huge outstanding debt of over $51 million, arising from the electricity and they consumed
A breakdown of the debt has been provided in data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)
Nigeria exports electricity to various countries, including Niger, Togo, and the Republic of Benin based on strategic agreements with neighbouring countries.
According to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), international consumers failed to remit $16.11 million, $11.97 million, $11.16 million, and $12.02 million to Nigeria for the electricity exported to them in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2023, respectively.
NERC, in its reports, noted:
“None of the under-listed international customers made any payment against the cumulative $16.11m invoice issued to them in 2023/Q1: Paras-SBEE ($3.46m), Transcorp-SBEE ($3.85m), Mainstream-NIGELEC ($5.48m) and Odukpani-CEET ($3.32m).”
For bilateral customers, the power sector regulator said:
“Out of N842.38m invoice issued by MO to all the eight bilateral customers in the NESI (Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry), only North South/Star Pipe made a remittance of N15.38m against its invoice of N24.69m.”
In a related development, the Nigerian government has mandated power-generating companies to reduce electricity supply to neighbouring countries.
NERC gave the order following high indebtedness by the three countries.
The directives mandated system operators to limit power generation to Togo, Benin Republic, and Niger to six per cent pending payment of debts.
{Source: Legit.ng}
