By Tribune Editorial Board,
NIGERIA’S electricity crisis is increasingly becoming a crisis of public accounting. Several Nigerian newspapers reported on May 17, 2024, that the Federal Government had approved the gradual payment of about ₦3.3 trillion owed to generation companies and gas suppliers. Then, on April 6, 2026, the State House said the Presidency had approved another ₦3.3 trillion payment plan, this time describing it as a full and final settlement of legacy debts accumulated between February 2015 and March 2025. The striking similarity between the May 17, 2024 and April 6, 2026 statements immediately raised suspicions as to whether these were separate commitments or merely different descriptions of the same obligation. In between, the Federal Government also established a separate debt-reduction bond programme of up to ₦4 trillion for verified arrears in the power sector. Taken at face value, these announcements have created the public impression of about ₦10.6 trillion in interventions within two years. But is that truly three separate commitments, or are some of them different stages of the same resolution process?
That question matters because trust in reform depends not only on action, but on clarity. When government repeatedly announces large rescue figures in a sector that remains visibly distressed, it owes the public more than broad assurances. Nigerians need to know what exactly was approved, what liabilities were covered, what instrument was used, what sum has actually been raised, what has already been paid, and what balance remains outstanding. Without that, each new announcement sounds less like progress and more like a recycling of figures to get new headlines. The April 6, 2026 State House statement was detailed but did not fully clarify matters. It said the ₦3.3 trillion represented a full and final settlement after verification of legacy debts. It also stated that 15 power plants had signed settlement agreements worth ₦2.3 trillion, that ₦501 billion had already been raised, and that ₦223 billion had been disbursed. Those are concrete figures. Yet they do not by themselves answer the obvious public question: how does this 2026 settlement relate to the May 2024 approval of roughly ₦3.3 trillion owed to GenCos and gas suppliers? Are they the same liabilities at different stages of verification and payment, or are they separate obligations altogether?
The bond programme added yet another layer to an already confusing debt narrative. Official statements by the Ministry of Information and the State House show that the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme was approved in August 2025, authorising up to ₦4 trillion in government-backed bonds to settle verified arrears owed to generation companies and gas suppliers. By October 2025, the Federal Government said it had finalised the implementation framework with GenCos. In December 2025, it announced the debut issuance under the programme: a ₦590 billion Series 1 bond, launched as part of a first phase targeting ₦1.23 trillion by the first quarter of 2026. Then, on January 27, 2026, the State House said the inaugural tranche had recorded 100 percent subscription, with ₦501 billion closed under Series 1, comprising ₦300 billion raised from the capital market and ₦201 billion allotted to participating GenCos. Even after accounting for differences between the overall programme ceiling, the initial issuance size, and the amount ultimately subscribed in the first tranche, the public record still needs clearer reconciliation than it has received so far.
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