APGC says report misrepresents reconciliation outcome, warns against undermining contractual agreements…
The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) has firmly rejected claims that N2.8 trillion represents a newly verified and final settlement of legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies, describing the figure as inaccurate and misleading.
In a statement issued Monday in Abuja titled “APGC Position on Misleading Reports Regarding GenCos’ Debt Reconciliation,” the association’s Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, said the reported amount does not reflect the outcome of any officially concluded reconciliation process.
“We categorically reject recent media reports suggesting that N2.8tn represents a newly verified and final settlement of GenCos’ legacy debts. The report is completely inaccurate. It is fake news,” Ogaji said.
Presidency sources cited N2.8tn approval
The development follows a report that President Bola Tinubu had approved N2.8 trillion as the Federal Government’s verified liability for accumulated electricity subsidies dating back to 2010.
According to sources quoted in the report, the President rejected a N6 trillion claim submitted by operators and insisted that payment would not exceed the audited N2.8 trillion figure.
“The President has approved an amount… he said he is not going to pay one naira more than that. So that is what the Federal Government is accepting as liability,” a source was quoted as saying.
‘Publish your audit report’
Responding to the claims, Ogaji challenged the unnamed presidency sources to make public the basis of their computation.
“Those Presidency sources should come out openly. I dare them. Publish your audit report. Why hide to throw stones? Issue a formal press release explaining how you arrived at that figure,” she said.
She argued that the debt in question arose strictly from bilateral commercial agreements executed within the framework of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), stressing that the obligations are contractual, not arbitrary claims.
According to Ogaji, the debt is calculated through verifiable processes, including metered megawatts generated by GenCos, energy dispatched to the national grid, invoices issued in line with market rules, and settlement reports from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).
“The energy generated by GenCos is metered and documented. The megawatts generated and dispatched to the grid are captured under established market procedures. These form the basis of invoices rendered under bilateral agreements. So any suggestion that figures are arbitrary is incorrect,” she said.
Previous reconciliation put figure at N4tn
Ogaji disclosed that as of December 2025, no further reconciliation meeting had been convened by NBET following the March 2025 tripartite reconciliation exercise.
She recalled that in July 2025, after a reconciliation involving GenCos, NBET, the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy, the President approved N4 trillion in recognition of verified legacy obligations.
“It is on record that after a tripartite reconciliation… His Excellency approved N4tn in recognition of verified legacy obligations. That commitment was made following due process and formal engagement,” she stated.
According to her, generation companies subsequently engaged financial institutions, gas suppliers and investors based on that commitment. Revising figures outside the established reconciliation framework, she warned, could erode market confidence.
“Revising figures outside the established reconciliation framework undermines market confidence and contractual sanctity,” Ogaji said.
Structural liquidity crisis
The APGC maintained that the persistent liquidity crisis in Nigeria’s power sector stems from structural challenges rather than inflated demands by generation companies.
Ogaji identified key drivers of the crisis as tariff shortfalls under regulated pricing, market settlement deficits, foreign exchange exposure and accumulated unpaid invoices.
“These are structural market realities, not arbitrary demands,” she stressed.
Nigeria’s power sector has struggled with mounting debts since the 2013 privatisation of the industry. Generation companies have repeatedly warned that delayed payments from NBET and distribution companies have constrained their ability to meet obligations to gas suppliers and lenders, raising concerns about generation sustainability.
Against this backdrop, the APGC insisted that any attempt to alter reconciled figures without formal engagement risks further weakening investor confidence at a time when the sector urgently requires stability and fresh capital injection.
