The 11 electricity distribution companies, Discos, in the country have announced plans to kick off a nationwide disconnection of historical debtors made up mainly of government ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, whose collective debts now stand in excess of N78 billion by the end of April, 2016.
This was disclosed over the weekend in Abuja by the executive director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan.
Oduntan, who addressed newsmen on the updates of their operations and the challenges they face, said that by the end of April, 2016, MDAs’ debts stood at a total of N78.6 billion with the military being the highest debtor at N38.7 billion.
A breakdown of the debts showed that the Abuja Disco is owed N18.6 billion, Benin Disco, N5.8 billion; Eko Disco, N8.6 billion; Enugu Disco, N7.2 billion; Ibadan Disco, N6.8 billion; Ikeja Disco, N5. 9 billion; Jos Disco, N6.5 billion; Kaduna Disco, N8.2 billion; Kano Disco, N1.2 billion; Port Harcourt Disco, N6.8 billion, and Yola Disco, N2.4 billion.
Other major debtors, according to the debt profile, include the Nigerian Air Force with a total of N3 billion; Nigerian Navy, N3.2 billion, and Nigeria Police, N4.6 billion. Other paramilitary bodies owe a total of N241 million.
Similarly, federal ministries and parastatals owe N9.7 billion, while state ministries and parastatals owe a total of N16.2 billion debt.
Oduntan, who stressed that the huge debt profile had made their operations extremely difficult, also explained that contrary to what is believed, the N230 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) loan to the power firms had only been accessed by some of them.
