FG approves payment of N26b owed electricity distribution companies

The Federal Government on Wednesday approved the payment of N25.994 billion being debts owed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies to electricity distribution companies.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this when he briefed newsmen on the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fashola said the council approved N25.9 billion as the verified monies owed by Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies to be paid to Electricity Distribution Companies.
He said the amount was less than the N67.4 billion bill forwarded by the Electricity Distribution Companies to government.
Fashola said: “We presented a memorandum to FEC to approve the verified sum of monies being debts owed by MDAs to distribution companies for electricity supplied to them.
“Since the beginning of this administration, claims of debts by government to DISCOS have been a matter of concern especially in the light of liquidity issues.
“We had committed that those figures would be verified and the verified sums, government would pay.
“We have concluded the verification and we now ask Council to approve the verified sum of N25.994 billion owed by MDAs of the Federal Government to be paid to the DISCOS out of the claims of N67.41 billion.
“So, there is a differential of about N41 billion.”
According to Fashola, the Federal Government is concerned by the huge debt owed by government to Distribution Companies.
Fashola also said the Electricity Distribution Companies had over N500 billion unremitted collection for energy that they were supposed to pay the Federal Government.
He said the N25.994 billion would now be subtracted from the over N500 billion the Electricity Distribution Companies owed the government.