The Federal Government has launched a N729 billion bond under the second series of its Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme to settle verified legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies and support payments to power generators, gas suppliers and other service providers.
The bond was launched in Abuja by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc at an investors’ forum organised in partnership with CardinalStone.
The second bond issuance follows the government’s deployment of approximately N501 billion under the first series in February 2026. This comprised N300 billion in cash and N201 billion in non-cash bond instruments used to settle part of the verified debts owed to GenCos.
The programme is designed to address the liquidity crisis in Nigeria’s electricity market, restore the sector’s commercial viability and strengthen investor confidence across the electricity value chain.
Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, Olu Verheijen, said the first series of the programme had demonstrated the Federal Government’s commitment to meeting its obligations while helping to restore confidence among investors and other market participants.
“Markets do not reward promises; they reward performance. Capital follows credibility,” Verheijen said.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said investors rewarded execution rather than intentions, noting that every commitment honoured would help reduce the cost of capital in the future.
Power Minister Joseph Tegbe described the debt reduction programme as a key economic reform aimed at restoring the commercial viability of Nigeria’s electricity market.
“Our destination is clear: a financially sustainable, investment-led electricity market that powers Nigeria’s industrial renaissance,” Tegbe said.
Verheijen said the second series would deepen liquidity in the electricity market and strengthen the financial foundation needed to attract long-term private investment into the power sector.
On investor participation in the first series, the Head of Investment Banking at CardinalStone, Onyebuchim Obiyemi, said pension fund administrators accounted for approximately N150 billion of the N300 billion raised in cash under the tranche.
“The banks came in very strong. We have about 41.5% of the first issuance from the commercial banks. Asset managers got about N17 billion or 5.8% of the offer size,” Obiyemi said.
She said the organisers were seeking to broaden the investor base for the second series by attracting asset managers, insurance companies, family offices and other institutional investors.
Obiyemi said the first series carried a 17.5 per cent interest rate on the seven-year instrument.
