Confusion over the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme has fuelled claims that the Federal Government approved the same power-sector debt payment more than once.
However, official statements show that the figures announced between 2024 and 2026 referred to different stages of a broader settlement process, including an earlier phased repayment plan.
May 17, 2024:
Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu said President Bola Tinubu approved the gradual payment of power-sector debts estimated at over ₦3.3 trillion.
The debt plan was described as about ₦1.3 trillion owed to GenCos and $1.3 billion owed to gas companies.
The 2024 plan was presented as a phased repayment arrangement using cash injections, promissory notes, future royalties, and other measures.
July 26, 2025
The Presidency said there was an anticipatory approval for a ₦4 trillion bond programme, subject to negotiations and final settlement of agreements.
August 13, 2025:
Official statements said the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme received presidential approval and Federal Executive Council endorsement.
December 19, 2025:
The Federal Government announced a Series 1 Power Sector Bond under the programme, with an initial offer size of about ₦590 billion.
January 27, 2026:
The first issuance closed at about ₦501 billion as the first tranche under the programme.
March 26, 2026:
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said the programme was already underway, with the ₦501 billion Phase 1 bond already issued and funds being disbursed.
She also said the broader programme aimed to settle verified sector debts, including about ₦4.55 trillion in GenCo claims for electricity supplied between February 2015 and March 2025.
April 6, 2026:
The Presidency said ₦3.3 trillion had been agreed as the full and final settlement after verification under the programme.
The Presidency also said 15 power plants had signed settlement agreements worth ₦2.3 trillion, while ₦501 billion had been raised and ₦223 billion disbursed.
Clarification
The May 2024 announcement and the April 2026 settlement are linked, but they were not presented as the same approval event.
The 2024 announcement was a phased debt-payment plan.
The 2026 announcement was framed as the verified final settlement under a broader reform programme that had already been approved and partly funded earlier.
The confusion comes from treating different figures, used at different stages of the same broader effort, as if they were one repeated approval.
