NERC Flays Weak Foreign Remittances, Seeks FG’s Intervention Over Ajaokuta Steel Debt

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has raised concern over weak remittance performance by international bilateral customers in Nigeria’s power market, while also calling for federal government intervention over the longstanding non-payment by Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community.
In its latest quarterly reports, NERC classified Ajaokuta Steel and the host community as a special customer and disclosed that they failed to make any payment towards invoices issued for power supplied over multiple quarters.

In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, the special customer category did not pay the N1.26 billion invoice from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) or the N0.13 billion invoice from the Market Operator (MO), continuing a longstanding pattern of non-payment.

The commission had earlier reported that in the third quarter of 2025, Ajaokuta Steel and its host community also made no payment toward a combined N1.03 billion owed to NBET and N0.10 billion owed to the MO for electricity supplied.

NERC described the behaviour as persistent default that undermines market liquidity and affects the financial viability of generation and transmission companies.

Ajaokuta Steel, conceived as an integrated steel complex to serve as a major metallurgical and engineering hub for Nigeria’s industrialisation, has struggled for decades with operational and financial problems.

Its continued failure to settle electricity bills has now become a significant burden on the power market, where other categories of customers are under pressure to improve remittance performance.

The NERC report, showed that three international bilateral customers supplied by generation companies in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry paid 10.89 million dollars out of the 20.44 million dollars invoiced by the Market Operator for services rendered during the period. This translated to a remittance performance of 53.28 per cent, indicating that nearly half of the billed amount remained unpaid.
The commission said the performance of there international off-takers from Benin, Togo, and Niger, owed Nigerian generation companies (GenCos) $9.55 million for dollar-denominated invoices and directly affected the liquidity position of the market.
In an industry already under pressure from weak collections, foreign currency obligations add another layer of complexity to remittance performance and debt recovery.
Domestic bilateral customers, by contrast, posted a stronger performance in the quarter.

They paid N3,514.06 million out of N4,172.11 million invoiced by the Market Operator, representing an 84.23 per cent remittance rate. NERC said the figure showed that domestic off-takers were generally responding better to their payment obligations, even though gaps still remained.

The report also noted that one international and one domestic bilateral customer made additional payments during the quarter to clear some outstanding invoices from previous periods.

Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique paid $3.54 million, covering obligations linked to the Ughelli and Afam 3 power plants, while APLE paid N141.14 million towards earlier invoices.

NERC said the payments offered some relief, but the broader picture still pointed to persistent remittance challenges in the bilateral segment of the market.

For generation companies, delayed or partial payments weaken cash flow, affect settlement certainty and can complicate planning for ongoing operations and future investment.

The commission’s report also drew attention to Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community, which fall under the special customer category.

The special customer failed to make any payment against the N1.26 billion invoice from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the N130 million invoice from the Market Operator for the quarter.

NERC said this continued a longstanding pattern of non-payment by the special customer and stressed that the matter had been communicated to the relevant federal government authorities for intervention. The regulator’s stance suggests that the issue has moved beyond routine market delinquency and now requires policy-level action.

Ajaokuta Steel has for years been associated with recurring electricity debt, with the facility and its host community often cited in NERC reports as a persistent default risk.

The plant’s status as a strategic industrial asset has repeatedly complicated efforts to enforce payment discipline, especially where the consequences of disconnection or strict enforcement may have wider economic and political implications.

The combination of weak international remittances and chronic special customer defaults underscores the scale of the liquidity challenge facing Nigeria’s electricity market. Although domestic bilateral customers performed better in the quarter, the broader settlement environment remains fragile and vulnerable to continued shortfalls.
Industry analysts have long argued that payment discipline is essential to the financial health of the sector, especially at a time when generation companies, transmission operators and market administrators continue to grapple with funding constraints.

Without stronger remittance performance across customer classes, the sector risks deeper liquidity stress and slower progress in market reform.
NERC’s latest report therefore highlights two linked concerns: the need to improve payment compliance among foreign off-takers and the urgency of resolving Ajaokuta Steel’s accumulated debt through direct government intervention. Together, they reflect the persistent financial strains that continue to shape Nigeria’s power market.