By Ayomide Otitoju
The Presidency has begun the process of settling ₦2 trillion out of the ₦4 trillion in legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies (GenCos) for power supplied to the national grid.
This was disclosed by a representative of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, during a Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
According to Verheijen, the payment—expected before the end of the next quarter—is aimed at stabilising Nigeria’s power sector. She acknowledged that the Federal Government’s fiscal constraints have necessitated exploring alternative debt instruments to facilitate the payment.
Verheijen, represented at the meeting by Eriye Onagoruwa, stated that both the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Debt Management Office (DMO) are on board, with internal approvals currently in progress.
“We’re empathetic to what GenCos are facing,” Verheijen said, adding that while a specific timeline could not yet be confirmed, critical groundwork had already been laid.
The move follows repeated warnings from GenCos over mounting unpaid invoices, which they say threaten their operations. The debt comprises ₦2 trillion in obligations accrued in 2024 and ₦1.9 trillion in longstanding legacy arrears.
Earlier in the year, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu acknowledged the over ₦4 trillion debt burden, noting its crippling impact on GenCos and the broader electricity market. In April, he pledged to address the issue decisively.
Five Police Officers Killed in Armed Ambush in Southern Mexico
Five police officers were killed on Monday in a deadly ambush by an armed group in Frontera Comalapa, a town in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state near the Guatemalan border.
Chiapas Governor Eduardo Ramirez confirmed the attack in a post on social media platform X, stating that the officers were ambushed while on patrol duty.
In response, the Chiapas Security Secretariat announced the deployment of over 1,000 officers to restore order and ensure public safety in the area. The agency also released an image of a police patrol vehicle engulfed in flames on a highway.
The region has witnessed escalating violence in recent months amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels—two of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organisations.
Since 2006, criminal violence—largely linked to drug cartels—has claimed approximately 480,000 lives across Mexico, with more than 120,000 individuals still missing.
