Tinubu directs presidential task force to raise N4trn bond to clear electricity sector debts

President Bola Tinubu says the Presidential Power Sector Task Force has been authorised to raise N4 trillion through bond programme to settle verified legacy debts in Nigeria’s power sector as part of ongoing reforms to stabilise electricity supply.

Tinubu spoke during his Democracy Day address on Friday, noting that the initiative is being driven through the presidential task force.

He said the task force had been mandated to address long-standing liquidity challenges in the electricity value chain, including unpaid obligations that have weighed on generation and distribution companies.

“By 2023, when we came on board, the electricity sector was characterised by chronic generation shortfalls, an unreliable gas supply, and transmission infrastructure so fragile that it could not evacuate available power,” the president said.

“Distribution companies were burdened by massive losses and a metering deficit of over four million. Worst of all, the value chain was drowning in legacy debt.

“The result was a sector that generated less than the 13,500 Megawatts installed capacity, a sector that transmitted less than it generated, distributed less than it transmitted and collected revenue far below what it needed to sustain itself.”

Tinubu said he signed the Electricity Act into law to decentralise the power sector, allowing states to participate in generation, transmission and distribution.

“The Presidential Power Sector Task Force is working hard to reduce the metering deficit,” said Tinubu.

“It has also been authorised to raise N4 trillion bond to settle verified legacy debts.”

According to the president, the Rural Electrification Agency, with support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, was expanding off-grid and mini-grid projects to underserved communities, including schools, markets and healthcare facilities.

He said electricity remained central to Nigeria’s economic development and must be treated as a democratic dividend.

“Electricity is a democratic dividend we owe every Nigerian. We intend to deliver it,” he said.

The president noted that the reforms were designed to attract investment into the sector and improve overall reliability of power supply.

Tinubu said the administration remained committed to repositioning the sector to support industrial growth, job creation and economic competitiveness.

On October 7, 2025, Bayo Adelabu, the former minister of power, announced that Tinubu has approved N4 trillion bond to clear verified debts owed to electricity generation companies (GenCos) and gas suppliers as part of efforts to stabilise the power sector.

Adelabu said the GenCos were owed about N4 trillion in accumulated obligations.

A week later, the federal government and GenCos reached an agreement on the implementation framework for the debt settlement plan.(TheCable)