Nationwide Blackout Looms in Nigeria as Electricity Companies Face Imminent Collapse

“the payment performance of NBET from February 2015 to April 2016 is 54.50 percent not the average of 40 per cent being claimed by the GENCOs. He also said that NBET has paid the sum of N21billion from its capitalisation to reduce the debt it owes the GENCOs. He explained that the company has not paid the outstanding due to the challenges in the power sector.

Reacting to the same issue, an official of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who does not want his name in print, said that the power intervention fund has terms and conditions attached to it. He said that any GENCOs which meets the terms and conditions of the facility have due access to draw from the fund. He said that some of the GENCOs think that the fund is a national cake to be shared.

He said that the last draw down from the fund some of the GENCOs did not benefit because they failed to meet the necessary conditions. He equally said that some of the GENCOs just wanted free funds which is not possible anywhere.

The Power Generating Companies weekend said that unless something urgent is done in the next couple of months, Nigeria should be prepared for a total electricity blackout. They said that they are currently running their operations at a huge loss and are barely struggling to survive.