Emmanuel Adigwe
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has disclosed that international customers owe Nigeria N32.8 billion in electricity bills.
The body stated this in its quarterly reports that, Benin Republic and Niger were issued N42.4 billion invoice for the electricity purchased from Nigeria in 2019 and the Beninois Electricity Community (CEB) and Nigerien Electricity Society (NIGELEC) did not remit any money for the first, second and third quarters of the year as they only paid N9.6 billion in the fourth quarter.
NERC said: “In the same quarter, the invoices issued to the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (designated as a special customer) and international customers (CEB/SAKETE and NIGELEC) were ₦300million and ₦12.402billion respectively.
“However, only payment of US$31.5million (~₦9.618billion) was received from the international customers as part payment of their total outstanding debts. The Nigerian government has continued to engage governments of neighbouring countries benefitting from the export supply to ensure timely payments for the electricity purchased from Nigeria.
“The challenge of poor remittance has remained a serious concern to the Commission as it is one of the main causes of the liquidity crisis facing the Nigerian electricity supply industry.
“Low remittance adversely affects the ability of NBET to honour its financial obligations to Gen
