- The total debt owed by the Ministry, Agency and Departments (MDAs) is N100bn in electricity bills.
- President Bola Tinubu had issued a directive to clear the N342.3 million outstanding electricity bill with AEDC.
The Executive Director of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, Sunday Oduntan, has stated that the federal government owes about N100 billion in electricity outstanding debt. Oduntan disclosed this in an interview with Arise TV yesterday.
According to him, the government needs to play its part to provide an enabling environment for energy distributors in the country. The executive director said the total debt owed by the Ministry, Agency and Departments (MDAs) is N100 billion.
He stated that the recent payment of debts by the presidential villa to the Abuja electricity distribution company (AEDC) could have been avoided had the government been timely in settling its electricity bills.
Oduntan added, “I said we all need to pay our part. On the part of the government, always try to create an enabling environment for businesses to strive. Always play your part by paying your bill.
“It’s only two or three weeks ago that there was a news that went viral that the Nigeria presidential villa was owing electricity bill. This bill was not paid until Abuja DisCo put up an advert that caught the attention of the President.
“You will be surprised to find some ministries owing Abuja Disco. The ministries, departments and agencies are owing, in essence, N100 billion. We’ve been saying this for a long time. They didn’t start owing from May 2023. So, there is no politics or mischief here. We are talking facts and how we can solve problems.”
Recall that President Bola Tinubu issued a directive to clear the N342.3 million outstanding electricity bill with AEDC. The directive from the President came after the State House Management and AEDC completed their account reconciliation.
The Discos listed the Presidential Villa, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Health, the CBN governor, as well as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others.
The statement reads in part, “Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) is constrained to do this publication of the details of government ministries, departments and agencies with outstanding unpaid bills for services offered to them through the provision of electricity supply in that our previous attempt to make them honour their obligations have not achieved the desired results.”