Debt: FG may cut power supply to Benin, Niger and Togo.


Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has joined operators in the power sector to call on international customers who receive electricity from Nigeria to either pay their bills or be disconnected.

Nigeria sells power to the Republics of Togo, Niger and Benin, and classifies the West African countries as international customers.

Officials at the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, told our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday that the international customers, who pay for the power they receive from Nigeria in dollars, owed the country, a development that had increased the financial indebtedness to the power generation companies.

This was confirmed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who, however, revealed that Buhari was working hard to ensure that the electricity debts by the country’s neighbours were cleared.

Fashola stated that he had also directed the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company to go ahead and collect its money from the international customers.

He noted that the government had issued letters to the countries involved, adding that Nigeria would disconnect those who fail to comply as endorsed by Buhari.

The minister said, “We issued disconnection notices and that is why I’m asking the NBET to go and collect your money because we have duties, obligations and international agreements with them as brother and sister nations. But that does not mean they will not pay us if they are defaulting. So, we have issued letters to them to pay their bills, and from time to time, they pay.

“There was a time one head of state came to visit President Buhari and little did I know that the real reason he came was to come and tell him that the (power) sector had issued a notice of disconnection to his country. And you may be interested to know that President Buhari simply told him to go and pay, otherwise we will disconnect you because we are also paying at home.”

Fashola also stated that he recently received the minister of power from Niger and both of them discussed issues bordering on the payment of electricity bills to Nigeria.

He said, “International customers, yes we have delays in payment and I think that’s a fair thing to say. Our international customers are government agencies and governments of Niger, Togo and the Republic of Benin. So, it takes some time and even on our own side, we know what it takes to get approvals, to process things and so on.

“You may be aware that the minister of power for Niger Republic was here to see me on Thursday or Friday, and these were some of the issues we had to discuss. And we also discussed the need for them to transfer the rights under their old agreement, which they made with the PHCN to NBET. So from time to time, we get the monies from international customers and we pay the power generation companies.”


http://punchng.com/debt-fg-may-cut-power-supply-to-benin-niger-togo/

Matters arising.........
Charity begins from home

About time! Carpenter wen no get chair for house.

Charity is supposed to begin at home but here no way... See like doing things abnormally.. Imagine a country dat suffers from epileptic power supply but yet supplying international consumers.

czarina:
About time Carpenter wen no get chair for house.

czarina:
About time Carpenter wen no get chair for house.

we gave those countries electricity but yet cannot run constant power here. how did I get here biko!

How can we even be supplying electricity to these countries when we don't have enough to use here?

Our leaders are silly

Stupid people at the helm of affairs

We no kuku know wetin dem dey use the money do

Where have they been all the while?
The way light dey dey Benin ehnn,u no go believe am say na we dey giv them. They dey owe us they will still be hostile to us.

This country funny sha .... We no get power and we dey sell power ... Whose idea was this ?

t

Lol imagine rubbish talk,


Nigeria matter come be meat seller wey dey chop bone oga oo

Wetin una dey wait for before. Cut am abeg!

What a country

Like someone up there rightly said

"Carpenter wey no get chair for house".

In my area touts now work with NEPA to extort us with phantom transformer replacement levy.

When we barely satisfy ourselves electrically.



hmmmm.



check my SIGNATURE

just negodu....
when Nigeria don't have one...

Nigerian leaders are expert in denying their people basic things of life.

Fg to cut power from Niger when naija don't have one.

Really?

And they have steady supply?? God puninsh una

May?


USELESS fools.

We wey get the thing no dey see am use...



Fashola is a morọn.

Those countries have lower installed capacities I believe

Probably 500MW each or less

I am not condoning it but 1500MW would not fix Nigeria’s power issues, although it will go a long way

.

High time too.

Fashola how far with stable power supply in 3months?

Shouldn't Nigerians have stable electricity first before selling electricity to other countries whose populace enjoy better electricity supply than Nigeria that's supplying them electricity? Misplaced priorities.

E no go better for this our government people, citizens will owe Nepa money dem go carry ladder come cut light while other citizens dey owe dem money dem dey contemplate Weda make dem cut am or not. Crazy people

The country to which we supply electricity have stable power but the supplier is fluctuating in its own country.
There is a Country!

Nbote:
Charity is supposed to begin at home but here no way... See like doing things abnormally.. Imagine a country dat suffers from epileptic power supply but yet supplying international consumers.

the dams we use are on the river niger , if those cointries set up thier own dams too. Our dams don cast. So are mandated to sell to dem