FORMER Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and key power-sector governance experts have faulted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent N3.3 trillion settlement plan for the country’s decade-old power sector debt.
The controversy comes after presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, stated on Sunday that Tinubu had finally approved N3.3 trillion to settle legacy debt owed to power generation companies.
Obi, in reaction, flagged an earlier approval of a similar fund by the Tinubu government in 2024, noting that an announcement without execution could not take Nigeria out of perennial darkness.
“On May 17, 2024, N3.3 trillion was approved for the same purpose. On July 25, 2024, another N4 trillion bond was approved to settle similar debts. There have also been other approvals in between, all targeted at addressing the same power sector liabilities,” Obi said.
He noted that the ‘non-transparent’ approval raised a fundamental question about whether previous announcements were made without execution.
“N3.3 trillion again? Nigeria’s power crisis without end? Each time legitimate concerns are raised, what we see appears more like policy pronouncements without measurable progress,” he stated.
Obi also pointed out that most of the debts were owed by ministries and agencies of the government, including the Presidential Villa.
“It’s important to note that government institutions and agencies, including the Presidential villa, owe a significant portion of these debts. Year after year, budgets were made and funds appropriated. Why then were these obligations not settled when due?
“And from what source will these new payments be made? Are we resorting once more to borrowing to service inefficiencies?” he queried.
Similarly, the Association of Generation Companies of Nigeria (APGC) questioned the approved N3.3 trillion. They raised concerns about how the decision would halt the electricity supply challenge in Nigeria.
The ICIR reports that the Chief Executive Officer of APGC, Joy Ogaji, raised an alarm over the parameter used by the Presidency to arrive at N3.3 trillion verified legacy debt.
The confusion comes amid the recent N501 billion power sector debt resettlement bond announced by the Nigerian government.
While the confusion persists, the majority of Nigerians have continued to suffer from epileptic electricity supply, with only 3,345 megawatts allocated to electricity distribution companies as of April 3rd, 2026.
Like other celebrations in Nigeria, the just-concluded Easter was marred by darkness in several parts of Nigeria as the Minister of Power’s recent pledge to fix the crisis within two-weeks failed to yield the expected results.
Reacting to the development, the President of Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Kola Olubiyo, raised concerns over the Federal Government’s plan to settle N3.3 trillion in legacy debts. He said the move would not resolve the deep-rooted problems facing the industry.
He said while the payment might appear significant, it failed to address the fundamental issues undermining the sector’s performance.
He noted that discrepancies, as well as conflicting claims and counterclaims surrounding the debt figures, pointed to flaws in the data used to arrive at the estimates.
According to him, the data collection and generation processes lack scientifically verifiable standards.
Olubiyo further warned that such gaps made the debt figures vulnerable to manipulation by human factors and entrenched corruption within the system.
He stressed that without credible data and structural reforms, settling the debt alone would have a limited impact on improving Nigeria’s power sector.
“As good as the payment may sound, it will not in any way address the myriad of challenges bedevilling the power sector.
“The fact that there exist discrepancies and conflicting claims and counterclaims further demonstrates that data collection and data generation that form the basis of the debts’ claims were not generated through scientifically verifiable parameters.
“Hence the susceptibility of the data/debt claims to human elements and endemic individual corruption,” he said.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.