- DisCos owes NBET ₦500 billion in debt.
- MDA’s enjoy continuous electricity despite huge debts
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at Federal, State and Local Government levels; Armed Forces and Security Agencies, owe Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) billions of Naira.
Unlike ordinary businesses or individual consumers that get disconnected from the power supply for failure to pay bills, they enjoy continuous access to power supply, despite huge electricity debts affecting the operations of DIsCos.
The failure of the DisCos to recover these debts or cut off the defaulting MDAs and institutions from the power supply has persisted, despite reminders by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on the rights of the companies to disconnect MDAs that refuse to pay bills.
As of July 2021, The International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) found that Federal, State and Local Government MDAs owe DisCos up to ₦202 billion.
According to the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the Federal Government has verified ₦48 billion as MDAs’ debts, while ₦61 billion is yet to be confirmed. This does not include the estimated ₦93 billion owed by Armed Forces and Security Agencies in Nigeria.