Gas suppliers owed over N630bn as power sector debt threatens electricity supply

According to a report by Punch Newspapers on Friday November 13 2026, Nigeria’s electricity problems may continue unless the Federal Government deals with the huge debts in the power sector, weak gas investment and poor infrastructure, industry stakeholders have warned.

The stakeholders spoke at the sixth annual conference of the Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Abuja. They said the absence of a lasting payment system for gas suppliers is hurting power generation. They added that weak transmission infrastructure and poor commercial arrangements are also blocking efforts to improve supply. According to them, these problems threaten the country’s plan to build a $1tn economy by 2030 on reliable and affordable electricity.

The warning comes as power supply has been disrupted again in many parts of the country. On November 5, the Nigerian Independent System Operator blamed a drop in grid generation on inadequate gas supply to thermal power stations and reduced water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs. This led to shorter supply hours and more load shedding.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited later said its gas transportation network was still available. It argued that gas production, commercial supply arrangements and actual deliveries to power stations should be examined separately.

The General Manager, Gas Commercial, Bashiru Adoke, said the gas-to-power crisis can be solved, but it will need steady investment and a dependable payment structure. He named the inability of market operators to pay for gas supplied to generating companies as one of the biggest obstacles to stable power.

He explained that generation companies are paid too little for the electricity they produce, which makes it hard for them to settle gas invoices. He said the monthly invoice for energy generated is about 40 per cent, while gas takes between 60 and 75 per cent of production cost. He added that the market now owes over N630bn for power generated and consumed by Nigerians.

Adoke said government interventions every three or four months cannot fix the problem. He noted that the current intervention covers legacy debts from 2015 to 2025, while debts from 2025 onwards are already piling up without attention. In his words, leaving current obligations unpaid means new liabilities will keep growing.

He also called for more investment in non-associated gas. He said depending on associated gas, which comes with crude oil, leaves power generation open to disruptions in oil production. He said the government had offered incentives through executive orders to attract gas investment, but more capital is still needed.

The NDPHC official further warned that very high tariffs could push more consumers to solar power and self-generation. He said he was “scared for this national grid” because of that risk.

Also at the event, the General Manager, Engineering, at the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mojeed Akintola, said low generation remains a major limit on transmission, since the company can only carry the power that generating stations produce. He said TCN is adding new transformers and transmission lines, but right-of-way disputes and vandalism are slowing project completion.

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