- House Committee flagged Azura-Edo IPP for omitting over ₦18bn in NBET payments, including excess tariffs and settlements, from its official submissions.
- Azura admitted to the omission and pledged to submit full financial records, as lawmakers warned that they may invoke legislative powers to enforce compliance.
The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating Nigeria’s power sector reforms and expenditures from 2007 to 2024 has asked Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant to explain why it did not account for ₦18 billion received from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) in 2023.
Committee Chairman Ibrahim Aliyu issued the query on Monday, December 1, during the resumed investigative hearing at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja. He stated that official records indicate that Azura received over ₦18 billion between January and June 2023 as excess tariff payments and other settlements from NBET. However, the company did not disclose these funds in its written submission to the Committee.
Aliyu stressed that the Committee’s mandate covers both technical performance data and the financial obligations of the Federal Government to private operators. These include payments through NBET, Central Bank intervention programmes, and statutory appropriations.
In response, Azura’s Head of Legal and Compliance, Akeem Olabende, admitted that the company failed to provide documentation related to NBET payments. He also confirmed omissions in reporting budget allocations, loans, grants, bank settlements, and other Federal Government-linked inflows.
Olabende said, “We did not fully understand the documentation that the Committee required. Now that we have a clearer understanding, we will provide all the financial documents and details requested.”
Committee members reminded Azura of its constitutional obligations and warned that failure to provide full disclosures could force the Committee to use its legislative powers to enforce compliance.
Meanwhile, the Committee scheduled another appearance for the Managing Director of Yola Electricity Distribution Company, Abdulrahman Isa, to present his submission.
NBET purchases electricity from generation companies under Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and resells it to distribution companies. Under these agreements, especially for privately financed plants like Azura-Edo, NBET makes capacity and energy payments regardless of how much electricity the grid consumes.
Azura-Edo, commissioned in 2018 as a 461MW open-cycle gas turbine facility, operates under a take-or-pay PPA. This agreement obliges NBET to make regular payments for capacity, energy, and other tariff obligations, even when the grid cannot fully dispatch the plant’s supply.
In 2023, NBET paid over ₦18 billion to Azura, including excess tariff payments from tariff reconciliations, settlements for capacity charges and service obligations, and payments under a government-backed guarantee. These payments form part of the Federal Government’s long-standing financial commitments to Azura, backed by sovereign guarantees and international financing.
Because the national grid often cannot absorb Azura’s full output, capacity charges, which are paid regardless of dispatch, comprise a significant portion of the company’s revenue.
The Ad hoc Committee is now scrutinising how these funds were received, recorded, and spent as part of its broader investigation into government financial outlays in the power sector over the last 17 years. The query arose after Azura’s initial submission failed to reflect the ₦18 billion NBET payments documented in government records.