Togo, Benin and Niger owed Nigeria $11.16 million for electricity supplied by Nigerian power generation companies under bilateral arrangements in 2025, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said.
NERC disclosed this in its 2025 annual report, stating that the Market Operator issued invoices totalling $73.91 million to the three international electricity customers during the year.
According to the commission, the customers paid $62.75 million, leaving an outstanding balance of $11.16 million and representing a remittance performance of 84.90 per cent.
The international customers are Société Nigérienne d’Électricité (NIGELEC) of Niger, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) of Benin and Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo (CEET).
“The international bilateral customers received a total invoice of $73.91 million for ancillary services provided by the Market Operator and made a total payment of $62.75 million, corresponding to a remittance performance of 84.90 per cent,” NERC said.
The commission also reported that domestic bilateral customers paid N12.75 trillion out of the N13.20 trillion invoiced by the Market Operator for services provided in 2025.
It said the payments represented a remittance performance of 96.60 per cent.
However, the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community, classified as a special customer, made no payments against invoices issued during the period.
NERC said Ajaokuta had an outstanding N4.96 billion invoice from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and another N500 million invoice from the Market Operator.
“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,” the report stated.
The commission warned that continued failure to settle the outstanding obligations could expose the Ajaokuta complex to the risk of disconnection from its electricity service providers.
“Failure to settle the obligations may put the Ajaokuta complex at risk of being disconnected from its service providers, NBET and the Market Operator, on the grounds of gross indebtedness,” NERC said.
Meanwhile, the commission said electricity distribution companies (DisCos) collectively received 31,251.77 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity in 2025, out of which 25,867.86GWh was billed to customers.
The performance resulted in a market energy accounting efficiency of 82.77 per cent.
NERC explained that energy accounting efficiency measures how effectively DisCos account for electricity received at their trading points.
It is calculated by comparing the energy billed to customers, including metered and unmetered consumers, with the total electricity supplied to an area within a given period.
According to the report, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest energy accounting efficiency at 88.84 per cent, while Enugu Electricity Distribution Company recorded the lowest at 72.18 per cent.
“The disaggregated performance of the DisCos shows that Ibadan DisCo recorded the highest energy accounting efficiency of 88.84 per cent, while Enugu DisCo recorded the lowest efficiency of 72.18 per cent,” NERC said.
The commission said the distribution companies were responsible for developing strategies to improve their energy accounting performance.
“DisCos have the responsibility of developing strategies to improve their energy accounting efficiencies,” it said.
NERC identified improved distribution infrastructure, reduction in technical losses, better customer enumeration and customer service, increased metering and the deployment of technology to combat electricity theft as measures that could improve the sector’s performance.
