A factsheet by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that electricity consumers of the 12 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) defaulted in the payment of electricity bills to the tune of N71.53 billion for the month of January 2025.
The data shows that out of a cumulative bill of N250.21 billion issued to the consumers, only N178.68 billion was collected by the DisCos.
The factsheet showed that Aba Power charged its customers N5.79 billion but collected N2.43 billion while Abuja DisCo collected N24.82 billion from N32.61 billion.
Similarly, Benin DisCo received N17.53 billion from N23.24 billion it issued out, Eko FDisCo collected N36.01 billion from N42.03 billion; Enugu DisCo received N13.85 billion from N17.33 billion; Ibadan DisCo collected N21.84 billion from N29.57 billion.
Others include Ikeja DisCo which raked in N32.81 billion from the N44.02 billion it issued. Jos DisCo collected N4.30 billion from the N10.02 billion it issued out while Kaduna DisCo received N3.06 billion from N7.75 billion.
Kano DisCo billed its customers N12.47 billion but got N7.08 billion while Port Harcourt DisCo collected N12.56 billion from the N21.03 billion it issued out and Yola DisCo collected N2.34 billion from the N4.33 billion it issued out.
The factsheet noted that the revenue collection of the entire disco dropped by 3.29 per cent from what was collected in December 2024, thus compounding the liquidity crisis affecting the power sector.
Already, the government owes DisCos and GenCos over N2 trillion for subsidy payment for 2024.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu recently said one of the major issues he is battling is the huge debt in the sector.
