The Federal Government disclosed in the latest industry statistics that international consumers did not remit about $51,26 million to Nigeria for electricity exported from Nigeria between 2023 and power users.
In addition, in 2023 Nigeria’s electricity sector did not receive about N7.61 billion from another group of customers categorized as bilateral consumers, according to The Punch.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has condemned this development, describing it as an infringement of the payment that must be addressed by the market operator.
According to the government data analyzed, it shows that defaulted in the payment of $16.11m, $11.97m, $11.16m, and $12.02m to Nigeria for the electricity exported to them in the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively.
Bilateral consumers on the other hand did not remit any payment to the tune of N827m, N2.03bn, N2.8bn, and N1.95bn to the Nigerian government for electricity sold to them over the same period aforementioned.
It has become a trend that some of these international consumers hardly make complete payments for electricity exported to them by Nigeria.
NERC in their speech on this development, said “None of the under-listed international customers made any payment against the cumulative $16.11m invoice issued to them in 2023/Q1: Paras-SBEE ($3.46m), Transcorp-SBEE ($3.85m), Mainstream-NIGELEC ($5.48m) and Odukpani-CEET ($3.32m).
“For bilateral customers, the power sector regulator said, “Out of ₦842.38m invoice issued by MO to all the eight bilateral customers in the NESI (Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry), only North-South/Star Pipe made a remittance of ₦15.38m against its invoice of ₦24.69m.
“The commission noted that “the non-remittance by bilateral consumers continues a trend that was highlighted in the past quarterly reports,” and declared that “the MO (Market Operator) must invoke the provision of the market rules to curtail the payment indiscipline being exhibited by the various market participants.”
International consumers including Paras-SBEE and Transcorp-SBEE are both from the Republic of Benin, while Mainstream-NIGELEC is from Niger; and Odukpani-CEET is from Togo.
The data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Authority showed that remittance by specific and cross-border customers was still weak during the 2nd quarter.
The commission said “In 2023/Q2, out of the four international customers serviced by the MO, only Transcorp-SBEE made a payment of $1.43m against an invoice of $2.13m issued for services rendered in 2023/Q2. The three other international customers did not make any payment against the $11.97m invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q2.
“Cumulatively, bilateral customers made a total payment of ₦816.66m against the cumulative invoice of ₦2.845bn issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q2.”
However, further analysis shows that only TranscorpSBEE made payments in the second quarter of 2023, while the rest international customers did not remit any money to Nigeria’s government during Q3 2023.
The National Secretary of Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, Uket Obonga, raised concerns over the non-payment by international customers, adding how international continues to owe Nigeria while local consumers grapple with epileptic power supply.
Nigeria currently lacks the capacity for adequate power to meet the electricity demand of citizens in the country; but exports electricity based on strategic agreements with neighbouring countries such as Niger, Togo, and Benin, among others, according to industry experts.
