The Federal Government has delayed plans to sell five National Integrated Power Projects after receiving undervalued bids from interested investors.

Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria is contending with a growing debt of ₦457 billion.

TCN’s Executive Director of Transmission Service Provider, Oluwagbenga Ajiboye, revealed this at a capacity-building workshop for journalists in Nasarawa State.

In 2023, the Federal Government unveiled plans to privatise five National Integrated Power Projects to help bridge budget deficits. However, the process has since stalled, with officials citing low and uncompetitive offers from bidders.

The plants slated for sale include the 434MW Geregu II in Kogi, 451MW Omotosho II in Ondo, 750MW Olorunsogo II in Ogun, 563MW Odukpani in Cross River, and the 451MW Benin-Ihovbor plant in Edo State.

Ajiboye explained that while the government remains eager to sell the power plants to generate revenue, the bids received so far fall far short of the expected investment value.

“So, presently, we have over 23 generation companies with a combined available capacity of about 12,000 megawatts. You can call it installed, but one thing I normally tell people to understand, installed capacity doesn’t translate to available capacity.

“We have all known all the Gencos have been privatised except the power stations under NIPP. The government has been going up and down, forward and backwards, either to privatise or sell or not to sell.

“The government is willing to sell, but the money being offered is not sufficient to cover the outlay of the investment,” he said.

Ajiboye revealed that as of March 2025, the Transmission Company of Nigeria is owed ₦457 billion by various stakeholders in the electricity market.

He noted that ₦217 billion of the total is legacy debt, while ₦240 billion is linked to more recent services. Efforts are ongoing, including talks with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, to recover the outstanding funds.

“The market owes us about N457bn as of March, being to the market shortfall and legacy debts. We have traced N217bn to the legacy debt, and we are in discussion with MOFI to pay us something out of it,” he added.