Power: Nigerian govt to settle N3 trillion inherited debt

The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, says the Federal Government is committed to settling more than N3 trillion debt it inherited in the power sector.

Adelabu said this in Abuja on Wednesday when he briefed reporters.

“Today, we owe the Power Generating Companies (GenCos) a total of N1.3 trillion, of which 60 per cent is owed to gas suppliers.

”We had a legacy debt of 1.3 billion dollars prior to 2014 to gas supplier companies, and at today’s rate, that is close to two trillion Naira.

“If you add the two trillion Naira legacy debt to N1.3 trillion owed the GenCos, we have an inherited debt of more than three trillion naira in the power sector.

“How will the sector move forward? Nigerians deserve the right to know, and we are working underground to resolve these issues,” he said.

According to him, the Federal Government plans to settle the existing sectoral outstanding debt obligations to the gas supply and power generation companies, using partly cash payment and guaranteed debt instruments.

Adelabu said the Ministry of Power was liaising with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, and office of the Special Adviser on Energy to the president to settle the outstanding debt.

“We are also working with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), to have a working arrangement for firm gas supply contracts for the Gencos.

”And possibly agree on gas to power domestic supply pricing in local currency to reduce price fluctuations,” he said.