The Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) has rejected claims by presidency sources that ₦2.8 trillion represents a newly verified and final settlement of legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies.
In a statement titled “APGC Position on Misleading Reports Regarding GenCos’ Debt Reconciliation,” issued on Monday in Abuja, the association’s Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, described the claim as inaccurate and misleading, insisting that no officially concluded reconciliation process supports the figure.
“We categorically reject recent media reports suggesting that ₦2.8tn represents a newly verified and final settlement of GenCos’ legacy debts. The report is completely inaccurate. It is fake news,” Ogaji said.
Reports had earlier indicated that President Bola Tinubu approved the payment of ₦2.8 trillion as the Federal Government’s verified liability for accumulated electricity subsidies dating back to 2010. The report, quoting unnamed presidency and Ministry of Power officials, stated that the President rejected a ₦6 trillion claim submitted by operators and approved only the audited amount.
“The President has approved an amount. The audit has shown that it is ₦2.8tn… and he is not going to pay one naira more than that,” a source was quoted as saying.
However, the APGC challenged the unnamed officials to publicly release the audit details backing the figure.
“Those Presidency sources should come out openly. I dare them. Publish your audit report. Why hide to throw stones? Issue a formal press release explaining how you arrived at that figure,” Ogaji said.
She argued that the claims reflect a poor understanding of how the debts accumulated, explaining that the outstanding obligations stem from bilateral commercial agreements executed within the framework of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
According to her, the debt figure is determined through verifiable processes, including metered megawatts generated by GenCos, energy dispatched to the national grid, invoices issued in line with market rules, and settlement reports from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).
The development adds a new dimension to the long-running dispute between power generation companies and the Federal Government over legacy debts in the electricity sector.
