President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked electricity generation companies (GENCOs) to give the federal government more time to confirm and verify the ₦4 trillion debt owed to them.
Speaking during a meeting on Friday with members of the Association of Power Generation Companies, led by Col. Sani Bello (rtd), at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged the backlog of debt but insisted on due process before repayment.
“I accept the assets and liabilities of my predecessors, and there is no question about that,” Tinubu said. “But that acceptance must be on credible grounds. I need to wear the audit cap of verifiability, authenticity, and the fact that this inheritance is not a mere deodorant but a support structure for critical economic and industrial promotion.”
He said federal agencies are working with auditors and legal teams to go through the figures and pleaded for patience from GENCOs and their financiers.
“We are here. So market it to your other colleagues. Give us time to do verification and validation of the numbers,” he said.
Tinubu pointed out that many of the problems in the power sector had been left unresolved for years. “This is a longstanding issue that is now being dealt with. I know how much we have been able to save on fuel subsidies. We introduced the alternative, CNG, to bring relief back to the people,” he said.
Addressing concerns from banks over possible defaults, Tinubu urged them to hold back on drastic actions. “To our friends in the banking sector, I ask that we avoid foreclosures. Sharpen your pencils, but keep an eraser handy. Let’s persevere together.”
He described electricity as “the most important discovery of humanity in the last 1,000 years” and said stable power was crucial not just for the economy but for basic dignity.
The President’s Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, disclosed that the government is working on a ₦4 trillion bond to cover the debt, though it hasn’t been finalised.
“While there is an anticipatory approval of this ₦4 trillion bond programme, it is subject to negotiations and final settlement of agreements. Only the amounts that the federal government validly owes are the things that will make it into the issuance by DMO,” she said.
According to Verheijen, the verified debt stands at ₦4 trillion as of April 2025, going back to 2015 and linked to tariff shortfalls and unpaid obligations in the power sector. So far, ₦1.8 trillion has been confirmed by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET).
“The total exposure that we are carrying at the moment is ₦4 trillion,” she said, “but that remains subject to downward revision pending final validation.”
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, warned that the debt crisis could grind power generation to a halt. While highlighting an increase in sector revenue—from ₦1 trillion in 2023 to ₦1.7 trillion in 2024—and noting that no grid collapse had occurred in 2025, Adelabu said this progress was under threat.
“Mr. President, given the grave implications of this debt overhang, including the risk of a nationwide shutdown of generation assets, I humbly seek your immediate support for defraying these obligations, even if partially, over a defined period,” he said.
Business leaders Tony Elumelu and Kola Adesina added their voices to the calls for urgent action. Elumelu, representing some GENCOs, warned that the industry was nearing collapse.
“Mr. President, we’ve come to you as a last hope. The generating companies are heavily indebted to banks, and foreclosure threats are real, not because we’re not doing our jobs, but because the system owes us trillions,” he said.
He added that the success of the administration’s economic agenda depends on electricity, “But we need power not to complete your transformation—we need it to enable it. Power is critical to unlocking Nigeria’s full potential. We urge you to help solve this debt problem.”
Adesina stressed the danger of an industry starved of cash, “Liquidity is the oxygen of our business. Without urgent intervention, generation capacity will stall, and Nigeria’s industrial and economic ambitions will be jeopardised.”
He also suggested a way forward, “We propose unlocking 800 million cubic feet of gas through NLNG to boost supply to these power plants,” he said.
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