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FG, Lagos owe Ikeja Electric N5.27bn

By on August 18, 2015

The military, Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies as well as the Lagos State Government are owing Ikeja Electric a sum of N5.276bn for electricity supplied to them, our correspondent has learnt.

Ikeja Electric is one of the two electricity distribution companies in Lagos.

The Ministry of Defence topped the list of customers owing the company, with a debt of N3.927bn as of June 30, 2015, according to a document obtained from a source close to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. The source confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday that the debtors had yet to clear the debts.

The Ministry of Police Affairs followed as the second biggest debtor on the list with a debt of N995.958m.

Other ministries indebted to the company include communication technology (N51.310m), education (N4.496m), works (N8.405m), health (N2.646m), information (N375,340.68) and finance (N12.260m).

The Ministry of Petroleum Resources had yet to pay its debt of N395,613.54. Other debtors include ministries of transportation (N1.922m), aviation (N156.182m), agriculture (N241,453.14) and State Security Service (N13.079m).

The Lagos State Government, which has reduced its reliance on the national grid in recent years through its independent power plants, owes Ikeja Electric N102.138m as of June 30, the document showed.

Most of the 11 Discos in the country have in the past five months failed to make full remittances to government-owned Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc for the energy supplied to them, a development that has affected payment to generation companies, gas suppliers, and other stakeholders in the Nigerian electricity market.

The Managing Director, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Oladele Amoda, had late last month told our correspondent that Discos had huge debts from customers, saying, “Every month, we find that the bills we get from NBET for the energy we get are far higher than the revenue we generate from customers.”

When contacted for comment, the Head, Communications Strategy, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, told our correspondent that the energy allocated to the company had increased to an average of 450 megawatts from 300MW three months ago, with improved supply to customers.

He said, “The energy that is given to us, we have to pay for it. So people should reciprocate the improved service we are rendering by paying their bills because there are a lot of customers that are not paying, and we may resort to disconnection.

 

[Punch]