Three Countries Owe $9.5m Electricity Bill, FG Covers N418.8bn Subsidy

Three international bilateral electricity customers under Nigeria’s power market failed to fully settle their bills in the fourth quarter of 2025, a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has disclosed.

According to the Q4 Report by NERC, the outstanding balance is over $9.5m.

The report indicates that the customers paid a total of $10.895m out of the $20.44m invoice issued for services rendered during the period.

This translated to a remittance rate of 53.28 per cent.

THE WHISTLER reports that the three main international bilateral customers purchasing grid-connected power from Nigeria are the national utilities of Benin, Togo, and Niger.

They are; Elles sont Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) – Bénin; Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET) – Togo; et Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) – Niger.

They purchase electricity generated by Nigerian GenCos under cross-border bilateral agreements, delivered via the grid.

Also, the report stated that Domestic bilateral customers performed relatively better, remitting N3.51bn out of a N4.17bn invoice, representing 84.23 per cent compliance.

The data also details the Federal Government’s growing financial burden in sustaining the electricity market, as tariff shortfalls continue to be covered through subsidies.

According to NERC, in the fourth quarter of 2025, the government absorbed about N418.79bn, which is roughly 52 per cent of total generation costs.

This, the Commission said, was due to the continued freezing of end-user tariffs at July 2024 rates.

NERC stated that the intervention reduced the invoice payable by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) to N386.13bn, despite the total generation cost for the period standing at N804.93bn.

However, the subsidy bill, though significant, declined by N39.96bn or 8.71 per cent compared to the N458.75bn recorded in the third quarter of 2025.

A breakdown of the quarterly subsidy shows that October recorded the highest obligation at N153.24bn, followed by November at N142.22bn and December at N123.32bn.