The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says Togo, Niger and Benin owe Nigeria $11.16 million for electricity supplied by electricity generation companies (GenCos) under bilateral arrangements in 2025.
In its 2025 annual report, the commission said the Market Operator (MO) issued invoices totalling $73.91 million to the international customers, but only $62.75 million was paid.
NERC listed the international offtakers as Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique of Benin, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité of Niger.
The international bilateral customers (i.e., Societe Nigerienne d’electricite – NIGELEC, Societe Beninoise d’Energie Electrique – SBEE and Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo – CEET) received a total invoice of $73.91 million for ancillary services provided by the MO and made a total payment of $62.75 million, corresponding to a remittance performance of 84.90%,” NERC said.
Domestic Bilateral Customers Remitted N12.75trn
The commission said domestic bilateral customers remitted N12.75 trillion against N13.20 trillion invoiced by the Market Operator for services rendered in 2025.
According to NERC, the payment represents a 96.60 per cent remittance performance.
The commission also said Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd and its host community, classified as a special customer, made no payment towards the N4.96 billion invoice issued by Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc and the N500 million invoice issued by the MO during the period under review.
“The Commission has escalated the issue of continual non-payment of electricity bills by Ajaokuta to the relevant federal ministries to find a lasting solution. Failure to settle the obligations may put the Ajaokuta complex at risk of being disconnected from its service providers (NBET and MO) on the grounds of gross indebtedness,” the report added.
NERC said the total energy offtake by all distribution companies (DisCos) in 2025 was 31,251.77GWh, while total energy billed stood at 25,867.86GWh.
The commission said the figures resulted in a market energy accounting efficiency (EAE) of 82.77 per cent.
NERC explained that EAE measures how effectively DisCos account for the energy they offtake at their trading points.
The commission said the measure is calculated as the proportion of energy billed to customers, including metered and unmetered customers, relative to the total energy supplied to a given area over a period.
“The disaggregated performance of the DisCos shows that Ibadan DisCo recorded the highest energy accounting efficiency of 88.84%, while Enugu DisCo recorded the lowest efficiency of 72.18%,” NERC said.
“DisCos have the responsibility of developing strategies to improve their energy accounting efficiencies.”
The commission added that these can include reinforcing “DisCos’ infrastructure to reduce technical losses, improving consumer enumeration and customer service, improving the metering rate as well as rolling out initiatives and technologies to curb energy theft”.
