Pay GenCos to avoid power sector collapse, Elumelu tells FG

Transcorp Group chairman Tony Elumelu has warned that the country’s electricity supply system will collapse if the federal government fails to urgently pay debts owed to power generation companies and accelerate long-delayed sector reforms.

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Speaking Wednesday in Abuja at the 19th Annual General Meeting of Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), Mr Elumelu said his company alone is owed over N600 billion — approximately $400 million — for electricity already generated and supplied to the national grid.

“As of date, our federal government owes your company over N600 billion. That is $400 million,” Mr Elumelu said to the shareholders. “Much as we, as patriotic Nigerian investors, are committed to supporting the effort of the federal government facing the economy, we have another excruciating burden of subsidising the sector as producers who do not get paid for the electricity we generate.”

“We put it on the grid, and it is consumed on the grid,” he added. “This, you will ask, is totally not sustainable. It requires urgent attention.”

Mr Elumelu’s warning comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with power outages, unstable grid performance and chronic liquidity shortfalls in the electricity market, over a decade after the country privatised generation and distribution assets in hopes of attracting investment and improving supply.

He acknowledged that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had taken some steps to reform the sector, including efforts to clear GenCo debts, expand metering under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), and separate Independent System Operations from Transmission System Operations. However, he expressed concern that implementation has been slow and uncoordinated.

“While the intention behind this initiative is very good, these intentions can only be achieved through ruthless, result-oriented and timely execution before this sector collapses in our very lives,” Mr Elumelu said.

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“Let me therefore use this opportunity of our AGM to call on all those involved in executing our president’s directives to please prioritise this critical national task immediately.”

He called on the government to complete debt repayment processes initiated late last year and fast-track delivery of meters nationwide.

Mr Elumelu also urged stronger investment in gas infrastructure, warning that gas supply constraints continue to hinder power generation across the country. He pointed to the ongoing OB3 pipeline project, designed to link the eastern and western gas networks, as a critical intervention that needs to be completed.

“Nigerians need improvement in access to electricity,” he said. “The Transcorp Group alone is owed over $400 million. We want this paid so that we can help actualise the president’s vision for improving electricity supply to Nigeria.”

Despite these challenges, the chairman said Transcorp’s diversified businesses continue to perform strongly. He cited growth across Transcorp Hotels, Transcorp Power (managed by Abuja Electricity Distribution Company), and Transcorp Energy, noting that the group’s combined listed market capitalisation has crossed N4.5 trillion from less than N20bn in 2011 when his group took over the company.

Unlisted assets, such as AEDC and Transcorp Energy’s OPL 2SL, are expected to boost the group’s value even further.