The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has summoned 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) over an alleged outstanding debt of about N2.6 trillion owed to the federation account.
The panel reached the resolution on Wednesday during an investigative hearing chaired by Representative Bamidele Salam, as it reviews the 2021 Auditor General of the Federation’s report, during which the Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) PLC, Mr. Johnson Akinnawo appeared and disclosed scale of the liabilities.
According to NBET documents before the panel, as at September 30, 2020, the 11 DISCOs collectively owe N2.6 trillion as broken down: Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), N330.4 billion; Eko Electricity Distribution Company, N231 billion; Benin Electricity Distribution Company, N233.2 billion; Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, N258.3 billion and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, N325.7 billion.
Others are: Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, N310 billion; Jos Electricity Distribution Company, N161.7 billion; Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, N277.7 billion; Kano Electricity Distribution Company, N211.7 billion; Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, N239.7 billion and Yola Electricity Distribution Company, N107.4 billion.
The AoGF’s 2021 report also flagged multiple irregularities in the power sector to include: N30 billion in uncollected debt by NBET from market operators; a N549 million shortfall in NBET’s one percent income from institutional charges; N100 billion paid by NBET to Generation Companies (GENCOs) for electricity not delivered to the national grid, and N26 billion owed to the Federal Government by two foreign firms for power exported to Togo, Benin, and Niger Republics.
More on the list of irregularities were N166 billion in under-remittance by Discos, below the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) minimum threshold, and N2.7 billion in unpaid invoices by the 11 DISCOs.
Following a motion by Hon. Yahya Kusada, the committee resolved that the affected compaies must appear before the panel at a date to be subsequently communicated.
