Togo, Niger, and Benin owe Nigeria $17.8m, an equivalent of over N25bn at the current exchange rate, for electricity supplied under bilateral arrangements, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said.
In its Third Quarter 2025 report, NERC disclosed that the three international customers were invoiced a total of $18.69m by the Market Operator for electricity supplied during the period, but they remitted only $7.125m, leaving an outstanding balance of $11.56m.
Similarly, the international bilateral customers had legacy invoices of $14.7m, out of which they paid $7.84m, leaving a balance of $6.23m.
According to NERC, the three international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid-connected GenCos made a cumulative payment of $7.125m against the $18.69m invoice issued to them by the Market Operator for services rendered in 2025/Q3.
It stated that the remittance level represented a 38.09 per cent remittance performance, with more than half of the invoices remaining unpaid at the end of the quarter.
It was noted that the electricity supplied to the three countries was generated by grid-connected Nigerian generation companies and delivered through bilateral cross-border power arrangements.
In contrast, NERC said domestic bilateral customers performed better, remitting N3.19bn out of the N3.64bn invoiced to them during the quarter, representing a remittance rate of 87.61 per cent.
The commission explained that some bilateral customers paid for power purchased in the quarters before the one being reviewed.
The Commission further disclosed that Nigeria’s 11 electricity distribution companies remitted a combined N381.29bn to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and the Market Operator in Q3 2025, out of a total invoice of N400.48bn, translating to a remittance performance of 95.21 per cent.
NERC said the figures were based on reconciled market settlements submitted to the commission as of December 18, 2025, as part of its statutory assessment of the commercial performance of the electricity market.
