President Bola Tinubu has said the settlement of legacy financial obligations in Nigeria’s electricity sector is helping to restore confidence among key stakeholders and strengthen the foundation for a more stable power market.
The President made the remarks while felicitating the managing director and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Akin Odeyemi, on his birthday, October 31, and commending his role in implementing the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme.
Tinubu said the successful issuance and signing of N728.979 billion Series 2 Bonds under the N4 trillion Power Sector Multi-Instrument Issuance Programme had enabled NBET to settle participating Generation Companies (GenCos) and their associated gas companies.
According to the President, the intervention addressed one of the sector’s most persistent challenges: longstanding and disputed financial obligations that had undermined confidence among generators, gas suppliers and other market participants.
He said the settlement was achieved through constructive engagement, financial discipline and purposeful collaboration among stakeholders, adding that it had strengthened the basis for a more stable and sustainable power sector.
Tinubu described Odeyemi as a technocrat whose experience across the energy and power sector, infrastructure development and financial services had shaped his leadership at NBET.
The President’s comments place the debt settlement beyond a routine payment exercise, framing it as a confidence-building measure for a sector long constrained by liquidity shortages, unpaid receivables and weak trust across the electricity value chain.
For GenCos and gas suppliers, the settlement could improve cash flow and support operations, maintenance and fuel procurement. For the wider market, its impact will depend on whether NBET and other institutions can sustain timely payments and prevent the reaccumulation of arrears.
SOURCE: LEADERSHIP NEWS PAPER