The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said it has communicated the need for the Federal Government to intervene over the longstanding trend of non-payment and debts by international customers, and others to the power sector.
This was contained in the 2023 fourth-quarter report, the latest, obtained by thecolumn.ng
According to the report, as of the quarter under review, electricity Distribution Companies also known as the DisCos, and four international customers serviced by the Market Operator, did not remit a total of ₦97.5bn to the power sector in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Statistics obtained from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s 2023 fourth quarter report, said the 11 DisCos held unto ₦81bn, while four international customers (Paras SBEE, Transcorp SBEE, Mainstream NIGELEC and Odu-Pani-CEET ), did not remit $12m (₦16.5 when converted using ₦1,367/$1 rate) invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q4.
This puts total debt by the DisCos and international customers at ₦97.5bn for the period under review.
A breakdown of the explanation of the debt by the DisCos, showed that in 2023/Q4, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was approximately ₦270bn, consisting of ₦223bn for generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) company, and about ₦47bn for transmission and administrative services by the MO.
However, out of this amount, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of ₦188.7bn (₦156bn for NBET and ₦32.5bn for MO), with an outstanding balance of about ₦81bn. This translates to a remittance performance of about 70 per cent in 2023/Q4 compared to the 76 per cent (remittance of ₦158bn out of the total invoice of ₦208.7bn) recorded in 2023/Q3.
The total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2023/Q4 was ₦294.9bn out of the ₦399.7bn that was billed to customers. This translates to a collection efficiency of 74 per cent. In comparison, the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2023/Q3 was ₦268bn, out of the ₦349bn billed to customers which translated to a 76 per cent collection efficiency. The 74 per cent collection efficiency recorded in 2023/Q4 is –2.77per cent lower than the efficiency recorded in 2023/Q3 (76 per cent).
The report further detailed that none of the four international customers being supplied by GenCos in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), made payment against the cumulative invoice of $12.02m issued by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q4.
The report, however, noted that some international customers made payments during 2023/Q4 for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters.
It also said that there were no remittances by bilateral customers against the cumulative invoice of ₦1.9m issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2023/Q4.
The recurrent delay of remittances by international and bilateral customers, NERC said should prompt the MO “to invoke the provision of the market rules to curtail the payment indiscipline being exhibited by the various market participants”.
The special customer (Ajaokuta Steel Co. Ltd and the host community) did not also make any payment towards the ₦0.72bn (NBET) and ₦0.07bn (MO) invoices received in 2023/Q4.
“This continues a longstanding trend of non-payment by this customer and the Commission has communicated the need for intervention on this issue to the relevant FGN ministries,” NERC added.
The power sector debt continues to rise, as the country battles inadequate power supply as a result of low generation.
The GenCos currently generate about 5000 megawatts (MW) despite the grid having a combined capacity of about 12,000 MW.
Experts have said Nigeria’s over 200 million populace requires at least 30, 000MW to attain sufficiency.
Despite even the meagre 5000MW power generation, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has struggled to transmit same to the DisCos for onward distribution to end users.
The Israeli military announced on Wednesday it had struck two naval cruise missile production facilities operating under Iran’s ministry of defence in Tehran.
“In recent days, the Israeli air force acting on IDF intelligence struck two key naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran,” the military said.
It said the facilities were used to “develop and manufacture long-range naval cruise missiles, which are capable of rapidly destroying targets at sea and on land”.
The strikes “represent another step in deepening the damage done to the regime’s military production infrastructure”, the military added.
Last week, the military announced its fighter jets had struck several Iranian naval ships in the Caspian Sea, including vessels equipped with anti-submarine missiles.
The number of migrants who died on the “Eastern Route” from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula doubled to a record high of 922 last year, the UN migration agency said Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of migrants from Ethiopia, Somalia and neighbouring countries take the route across the Red Sea each year, mostly from Djibouti to Yemen, in search of work as labourers or domestic workers in wealthy Gulf countries.
“2025 was the deadliest year ever recorded on the Eastern migration route… with 922 people dead or missing — double the number from the previous year,” Tanja Pacifico, head of mission for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Djibouti, told AFP.
The majority of victims were from Ethiopia, the second most-populous country in Africa with more than 130 million people. It is plagued by multiple internal conflicts and deep poverty.
“IOM remains fully committed to working alongside the government of Djibouti to promote safe and dignified migration pathways, in order to prevent further tragedies,” said Pacifico.
Many migrants who cross the Red Sea find themselves stuck in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, which has been embroiled in a civil war for nearly a decade, and some even choose to return.
Rapid economic growth in Ethiopia — estimated to reach around 10 percent in 2026 — could encourage less migration, IOM says, but that is mitigated by high inflation, also around 10 percent in February.
Election workers recount ballots in the Marselisborg Hallen in Aarhus, Denmark on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Mikkel Berg Pedersen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) /
Denmark’s political parties began the thorny process of forming a government Wednesday, with the centrist Moderates as kingmaker after the prime minister’s Social Democrats scraped through a general election without a majority.
Greenland’s Inuit Ataqatigiit party member Naaja Nathanielsen (C) looks on in a polling station in Nuuk, on March 24, 2026, during the parliamentary election in Denmark (Photo by Oscar Scott Carl / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT
Danes were braced for a weeks-long process as Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen seeks to consolidate power in the deeply splintered parliament after Tuesday’s snap vote.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen to inform the king about the election result one day after the parliamentary election on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Martin Sylvest / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
A left-wing bloc made up of five parties, including Frederiksen’s Social Democrats, won 84 seats; the right-wing and far-right claimed 77; and the Moderates won 14 in the election.
The Social Democrats posted their worst election score since 1903—though they remained Denmark’s largest single party, with 38 seats in the 179-seat parliament.
Chairwoman of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen attends a party leader debate hosted by Publicists’ Club one the day after the parliamentary election at the Confederation of Danish Industry’s building in Copenhagen on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
Frederiksen formally tendered her coalition government’s resignation to King Frederik on Wednesday, telling a televised party leader debate she wanted to try to form a centre-left government.
“The most realistic scenario” would be a coalition with the five parties on the left and the centre-right Moderates, she said.
But it is not certain the Moderates, led by Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, would agree to that.
“I don’t believe that Denmark needs policies aligned with” the leftist Red-Green Alliance, Lokke said.
Chairman of the Moderates Lars Loekke Rasmussen attends a party leader debate at the Confederation of Danish Industry’s building in Copenhagen on March 25, 2026, the day after the parliamentary election. (Photo by Liselotte Sabroe / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT
King Frederik was to meet party leaders individually later Wednesday to determine who should be asked to try to form the next government.
“My expectation is that Mette Frederiksen will become prime minister,” University of Copenhagen political science professor Rune Stubager told reporters.
“But I don’t know with the backing of which parties, like the left wing or the right wing,” he said.
He noted that Lokke, a two-time former prime minister, would likely vie for the position of prime minister, even though he has adamantly denied any interest in the job.
“Danes want me and not another prime minister. I still have the backing to be able to continue on behalf of the Danish people,” Frederiksen insisted during the debate.
Frederiksen has for the past four years headed an unprecedented left-right coalition made up of her Social Democrats, the Moderates and the Liberals.
The Liberals have refused to continue in a Social Democrat-led government.
‘Too Hard To Say’
Danes are now prepared for long negotiations. After the 2022 election, the talks lasted six weeks.
“It’s a long process, which means the government won’t be formed and it will be quite difficult to pass laws during this period,” lamented Jesper Dyrfjeld Christensen, a 54-year-old engineer.
“It’s really too hard to say who will be part of the coalition,” admitted Stubager.
With 12 parties in parliament, the political landscape is jagged — though Denmark is accustomed to minority governments.
“To some extent, this is the way Danish politics works. You have a minority government in the centre which forms a majority with the left on some issues and with the right on others,” he explained.
The negotiations are expected to focus on economic and pension issues, pollution and immigration, he said.
The traditional far-right party, the Danish People’s Party, which has heavily influenced policy since the late 1990s but slumped in the 2022 election, more than tripled its result to 9.1 per cent of votes.
The three anti-immigration groups together garnered 17 per cent, a stable figure for Denmark’s populist right over the past two decades.
“If negotiations take place in the left-wing bloc with the moderates, then there will be more focus on green issues than on immigration,” Stubager said.
“But if, instead, the Moderates negotiate with the parties on the right, then the central issue will be immigration.”
Four seats in Denmark’s parliament are held by its two autonomous territories — two for Greenland and two for the Faroe Islands.
While the Faroese renewed the mandates of the two outgoing lawmakers, with one for each bloc, Greenland overwhelmingly backed the left-wing party and Naleraq, which advocates rapid independence from Denmark.
