Discos rake in ₦ 553 billion of income Q1, missed ₦ 744 billion people – Nearc

… Amcon offloads Ibadan Disco for ₦ 100 billion

The electricity distribution companies in Nigeria have generated over 553 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report of the Commission for the regulation of Nigerian electricity (NURC) – even if the federal government has confirmed the sale of the electricity distribution company Ibadan (Ibedc) for ₦ 100 billion, an agreement now charged in the college.

The report on the performance of the NARC Q1 2025, released on Thursday, showed that the discos have invoiced a total of ₦ 744.27 billion, with a collection efficiency of 74.39%, marking a drop of 3.05 percent from 77.44% recorded in the fourth quarter 2024.

The Commission has attributed the dive into efficiency to an increase of 10.06% in the setting of energy, which stated that it often translates into lower returns since more energy is distributed in areas with historically scarce payment registers.

“In general, when discos offer more energy, they allocate incremental energy to the areas in which they record historically lower invoicing and collection efficiency,” explained Nerc.

Only three discos – Kano, Abuja and Enugu – have improved their collection of revenue between the Q4 2024 and the first quarter 2025. Eko Disco recorded the highest collection efficiency at 84.79%, while Jos Disco had the lowest at 47.19%. The worst drop came from Port Harcurt (-15.11pp), Kaduna (-7.12pp) and Eko (-5.21pp).

In the meantime, in what has become a reference move in the power sector, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (Amcon) has confirmed the sale of Ibadan Disco for ₦ 100 billion, after months of negotiations and a lower offer previously rejected.

Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, the CEO of Amcon Gbenga Alake said that the company rejected an initial offer that underestimated the activity and requested a restoration.

“We entered and said no, it can’t be. We said they should go and present a new offer … In the end, we got almost double what Ibadan Disco would be sold,” Alake said.

Alake, however, recognized that the legal causes followed the sale. An organization of civil society, the African initiative against the abuse of public trust, presented a case at the High Federal Court, Abuja, claiming that the sale was secret and underestimated, with potential losses up to $ 107 million to the Nigerian government compared to the 2013 evaluation.

The cause, marked with FHC/Abj/CS/866/2025, lists Amcon, Nerc, The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Ibedc as defendants, challenging the sale of a 60% participation for $ 62 million, despite a previous evaluation of $ 169 million.

Despite the controversy, Amcon insists that the transaction has followed the right trial.

“We sold it … and whatever is still happening in court, we will face him,” said Alake.

The Federal Government had previously reported the intention of selling from five discos in difficulty under the control of Amcon and commercial banks. Apart from Ibedc, others in the list include Abuja, Benin, Kaduna and Kano electricity distribution companies.

In the meantime, Denr says that efforts is increasing to improve efficiency in the sector. Over 41,000 band customers A have been measured within the MAF (Metter Acquisition Fund) system from its implementation in June 2024.

It is also expected that discos will continue to distribute meters in the context of other framework such as the Asset Program program (MAP) and the National Mass Metering Program (NMMP).

Nearc has concluded that a better measurement and enumeration of customers are fundamental to increase the performance of the collection and reduce losses in the sector of the Nigerian electricity supply (NESI).

‘

‘

‘

Do you want to share a story with us? Do you want to advertise with us? Do you need advertising for a product, service or event? Contact us on WhatsApp +2348183319097 email: platformtimes@gmail.com

We commit ourselves to an investigative journalism of great impact for human interest and social justice. Your donation will help us tell other stories. Please give any amount HERE