President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved part payment of all power sector debts, estimated at N3.3 trillion.
Adebayo Adelabu, Nigeria’s Minister of Power, disclosed this
at Thursday’s 8th Africa Energy Marketplace in Abuja.
He noted that the federal government’s N1.3 trillion debt to
power-generating companies would be paid via cash injections and promissory
notes, while about $1.3 billion (N1.994 trillion using the current official
closing rate) owed to gas companies will be paid via cash and future royalties.
Adelabu stressed that the federal government had commenced
payment of the cash part of the N1.3 trillion debt owed Gencos and concluded
plans to settle the second part via promissory notes within two to five years.
“The debt for the power-generating companies is N1.3tn. I
can also tell you that Mr. President has consented to pay on the condition of
reconciling these debts between the government and the power-generating
companies.
“It is true that I mentioned that Mr President has approved
the submission of the Hon. Minister of State Petroleum (Gas) to defray the
outstanding debts owed to the gas supplying companies to the power sector
operators.
“The payments will be in parts. We have the legacy debt and
the current debt. For the current debt, approval has been given for a cash
payment of about N130bn from the Gas Stabilisation Fund, which the Federal
Ministry of Finance will pay if it hasn’t already,” he said.
In March, the government paid $120 million out of the $1.3bn
indebtedness to gas companies.
On different occasions, Adelabu has blamed indebtedness to
gencos for the epileptic power supply in the country.
Recall that on April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission approved a 230 per cent electricity tariff hike for band A
customers, who receive a 20-24 power supply.
A month later, the government slashed the hike by N18.2 to
N206.8 per kilowatt-hour from 225kwh.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress,
and other Nigerians have kicked against the hike, calling for its complete
reversal.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com