Togo, Niger, and Benin owe Nigeria $17.8m, an equivalent of over N25bn at the current exchange rate, for electricity supplied under bilateral arrangements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said.

In its Third Quarter 2025 report, NERC disclosed that the three international customers were invoiced a total of $18.69m by the Market Operator for electricity supplied during the period, but they remitted only $7.125m, leaving an outstanding balance of $11.56m.

Similarly, the international bilateral customers had legacy invoices of $14.7m, out of which they paid $7.84m, leaving a balance of $6.23m. The PUNCH reports that the debt incurred from the previous quarters and that of Q3 2025 amounted to $17.8m. This is N25.36bn at an exchange rate of N1,425 to a dollar.

The regulator identified the international offtakers as Compagnie Énergie Électrique du Togo, Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique of the Republic of Benin, and Société Nigérienne d’Électricité of the Republic of Niger.

According to NERC, the three international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid-connected GenCos made a cumulative payment of $7.125m against the $18.69m invoice issued to them by the Market Operator for services rendered in 2025/Q3.

It stated that the remittance level represented a 38.09 per cent remittance performance, with more than half of the invoices remaining unpaid at the end of the quarter.

It was noted that the electricity supplied to the three countries was generated by grid-connected Nigerian generation companies and delivered through bilateral cross-border power arrangements.

“The three international bilateral customers being supplied by GenCos in the NESI made a payment of $7.12m against the cumulative invoice of $18.69m issued by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q3, translating to a remittance performance of 38.09 per cent.

In contrast, NERC said domestic bilateral customers performed better, remitting N3.19bn out of the N3.64bn invoiced to them during the quarter, representing a remittance rate of 87.61 per cent.

“The domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N3.19bn against the invoice of N3.64bn issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q3, translating to 87.61 per cent remittance performance,” it added.

The commission explained that some bilateral customers paid for power purchased in the quarters before the one being reviewed.

“It is noteworthy that some bilateral customers also made payments for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters, as follows: the MO received $7.84m from the international bilateral customers and N1.3bn from the domestic bilateral customers,” the report added.

The Commission further disclosed that Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies remitted a combined N381.29bn to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Market Operator in Q3 2025, out of a total invoice of N400.48bn, translating to a remittance performance of 95.21 per cent.

NERC said the figures were based on reconciled market settlements submitted to the commission as of December 18, 2025, as part of its statutory assessment of the commercial performance of the electricity market. (The PUNCH)