By Seun Ibiyemi
Nigeria’s electricity export customers in Togo, the Republic of Benin and Niger Republic failed to fully settle their electricity bills in the first quarter of 2026, leaving an outstanding debt of $12.66 million, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The commission disclosed this in its 2026 First Quarter Report, stating that the three international customers paid only $4.82 million out of the $17.48 million invoice issued for electricity supplied by Nigeria’s Generation Companies (GenCos) during the period, representing a remittance performance of 27.57 per cent.
NERC said the payments were made through the Market Operator (MO), which invoices bilateral customers for electricity supplied within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
According to the report, domestic bilateral customers recorded significantly better payment performance, remitting ₦5.82 billion out of the ₦6.12 billion invoiced during the quarter, translating to a 95 per cent remittance rate.
The commission further disclosed that both domestic and international bilateral customers also made payments towards outstanding invoices from previous quarters.
Three international customers paid $6.64 million, while nine domestic bilateral customers remitted ₦2.59 billion to offset previous debts.
A breakdown of the international payments showed that Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE) paid $4.05 million, comprising $3.28 million for electricity supplied by Ughelli Power Plc and $770,000 for Paras Energy.
Similarly, Société Nigérienne d’Electricité (NIGELEC) paid $1.87 million for electricity supplied by Mainstream Energy, while Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET) remitted $720,000 to Paras Energy.
The report also highlighted the continued non-payment by Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community, classified as special customers.
According to NERC, the customers failed to pay ₦676.88 million invoiced by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and ₦189.38 million billed by the Market Operator during the quarter.
The commission said the persistent default had been brought to the attention of relevant Federal Government authorities for intervention.
On electricity distribution companies (DisCos), NERC reported that operators collected ₦597.56 billion out of the ₦756.93 billion billed to customers in the first quarter of 2026, resulting in a collection efficiency of 78.95 per cent.
This represented a slight decline from the 79.36 per cent collection efficiency recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, when DisCos collected ₦630.93 billion out of ₦795.06 billion billed to customers.
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The report also showed that the Federal Government spent ₦358.32 billion on electricity subsidies during the review period due to the continued implementation of non-cost-reflective tariffs across electricity distribution companies.
Although the subsidy burden declined by ₦60.46 billion, or 14.44 per cent, from the ₦418.79 billion recorded in the preceding quarter, it still accounted for 51.95 per cent of the total invoices issued to electricity generation companies.
NERC attributed the reduction in subsidy obligations primarily to an 8.56 per cent decline in electricity offtake by distribution companies between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
The report underscores the persistent challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity market, including poor payment compliance by international customers, revenue collection gaps within the domestic market and the continued fiscal burden of electricity subsidies on the Federal Government.
