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Electricity consumers and experts have picked holes with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent N3.3 trillion settlement plan for the country’s decade-old legacy power sector debt.
This comes after Presidential Spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga stated on Sunday that President Tinubu finally approved N3.3 trillion to settle legacy debt owed to Gencos.
The announcement has generated mixed reactions in the past 48 hours.
While the Association of Generation Companies of Nigeria questioned the approved N3.3 trillion, stakeholders have also raised concerns on how the decision would halt the electricity supply challenge in Nigeria.
DAILY POST reports that the Chief Executive Officer of APGC, Joy Ogaji, raised alarm over the parameter used by Tinubu’s presidency to arrive at N3.3 trillion verified legacy debt.
She faulted the move, saying that GenCos were not carried along.
In another criticism, Arise Television anchor, Oseni Rufai, in a post on X, described the N3.3 trillion as ‘propaganda,’ comparing the announcement to an earlier statement made by the minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, in March 2024.
However, Onanuga, in a post on X, disagreed with Rufai.
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, Easter was marred by darkness in parts of Nigeria.
Tinubu’s approved N3.3 won’t end Nigeria’s power crisis- Olubiyo
Speaking exclusively to DAILY POST on the power sector crisis, Kunle Olubiyo, the President of Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, raised concerns over the Federal Government’s plan to settle N3.3 trillion in legacy debts, stating that the move will not resolve the deep-rooted problems facing the industry.
He said while the payment may appear significant, it fails to address the fundamental issues undermining the sector’s performance.
He noted that discrepancies, as well as conflicting claims and counter-claims surrounding the debt figures, point 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 make 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 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 bedeviling 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 told DAILY POST.
Tinubu’s presidency playing games with power sector crisis – Ewetumo
On his part, Ewetumo A. A., a retired staff member of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), has also criticized the Federal Government’s plan, alleging a lack of concrete action since the plan was first announced.
Ewetumo said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had continued to “romanticize” the payment plan without implementation.
According to him, the presidency had not demonstrated seriousness in addressing the mounting liabilities in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
“The presidency is playing games,” he said.
He further claimed that the total indebtedness in the sector is far higher than the proposed settlement figure, estimating it at about N12 trillion.
“Total indebtedness is around N12 trillion to the NESI. Sectional debts to GenCos are around N6 trillion,” he stated.
Ewetumo also raised concerns about transparency, noting that despite repeated announcements since 2024, there has been no clear payment framework or list to show how the N3.3 trillion would be disbursed.
“Since 2024, the federal government has been parroting payment of N3.3 trillion with no payment list,” he added.
Power sector crisis: Consumers, experts pick holes in Tinubu’s N3.3 trillion legacy debt approval
