N729bn bond clears first slice of N4trn owed to generating companies

The Federal Government has raised N728.9 billion through a bond to settle debts owed to electricity Generation Companies, GenCos, as part of the N4 trillion debt burden.

The bond is in addition to the N501 billion raised in the bond market in January 2026, bringing the total funds raised to N1.23 trillion.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), Akinola Odeyemi, confirmed the development in separate statements on Friday.

According to Oyedele, the Series 2 bond comprises N402 billion in cash bonds raised from the capital markets and N326.9 billion in non-cash bonds allotted to participating generation companies under the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme. “This means the bond programme cannot stand alone.

It must be accompanied by stronger market discipline, improved revenue assurance, reduction in technical and commercial losses, greater efficiency and accountability across the electricity ecosystem.

It is also important that we are leveraging Nigeria’s domestic capital markets,” he said.

Odeyemi said the Series 2 issue has an aggregate value of approximately N729 billion and will be implemented in two tranches, Tranche A and Tranche B. “The increased participation is a positive development and reflects the growing confidence of stakeholders in the programme and its ability to provide a credible framework for addressing verified outstanding obligations to the sector,” he said. “It is therefore important that the Debt Reduction Programme is viewed not simply as an initiative for settling historical debt, but also as part of a broader effort to restore financial confidence, liquidity and sustainability to the Nigerian electricity supply industry,” he added.

DAILY POST reports that GenCos under the Association of Power Generation Companies raised the alarm in June that the Federal Government was yet to pay its legacy debts.