GENCOs Challenge Tinubu Government: Show the Full Breakdown of N3.3 Trillion Power Debt

President Tinubu approved a N3.3 trillion plan on April 6, 2026 to settle Nigeria's power sector legacy debt. But the Power Generation Companies (GenCos), through their body the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), say that figure was never jointly agreed upon.

They want a full public breakdown. GenCos put the actual debt closer to N6.6 trillion. Experts say total sector liabilities may be as high as N12 trillion. No fresh reconciliation has taken place since March 2025. As of that same month, GenCos confirmed they had received no payment at all.

What the Tinubu Government Actually Announced

On April 6, 2026, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga released a statement announcing that President Bola Tinubu had approved a N3.3 trillion payment plan aimed at resolving long-standing debts in Nigeria's power sector under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme.

The government said the plan addresses legacy debts accumulated between February 2015 and March 2025, describing the N3.3 trillion as a full and final settlement.

According to the presidency, implementation has already started, with N501 billion raised and N223 billion disbursed so far. Fifteen power plants have signed agreements worth N2.3 trillion.

The government also said the next phase of the programme, known as Series II, will commence this quarter.

On paper, it sounds decisive. The problem? The companies at the centre of the debt say they were cut out of the process entirely.

GenCos Fire Back: How Did You Arrive at That Number?

The CEO of the Association of Power Generation Companies, Dr. Joy Ogaji, said the amount being referenced does not align with reconciled figures agreed with relevant authorities. "We need to understand how this N3.3 trillion was computed," she said, noting that the last reconciliation exercise between GenCos and government agencies was concluded in March 2025.

Ogaji did not mince words. She asked directly: "Is verification unilateral in a bilateral agreement?"

She also questioned the government's consistency on the debt figure. "I don't know how they arrived at N3.3tn. Recall that the FG once said it was N2.3tn; later, they said N2.8tn, and now N3.3tn. We don't know how the government arrived at that figure," Ogaji told journalists.

She noted that no fresh reconciliation has taken place since March 2025, raising doubts about how the government arrived at N3.3 trillion. "We are not aware of any such verification outside the last reconciliation concluded in March 2025," Ogaji said, urging the government to publish details of the process and parties involved.

She also challenged the government on the form of payment. Ogaji demanded clarity on whether the approved sum would be paid in cash or through financial instruments such as bonds. "We have not seen any money," she added.

The Reconciliation Problem: A July 2025 Promise Already Existed

This latest announcement does not exist in a vacuum. There is an important backstory that makes GenCos even more sceptical.

Ogaji recalled an earlier development in which about N4 trillion was approved in July 2025 following a reconciliation exercise involving key stakeholders in March 2025. "This raises more questions. Is this N3.3tn different from the N4tn he approved in 2025? Or is it an additional one?" she asked.

APGC also stated that in July 2025, following a tripartite reconciliation exercise involving GenCos, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy, President Tinubu approved N4 trillion in recognition of verified legacy obligations to GenCos and gas suppliers.

That commitment was made through formal engagement. Now a different, lower figure has appeared with no explanation. The association warned that altering or revising figures outside the established reconciliation framework without transparent audit results could undermine market confidence and contractual certainty.

This is the core of GenCos' grievance. It is not that they deny a debt exists. It is that the government keeps changing the number without bringing them to the table.

What GenCos Say the Real Debt Is

There is a massive gap between what the government claims it owes and what GenCos say they are owed. In April 2025, GenCos warned that the N4 trillion unpaid debt owed by the federal government and other stakeholders for electricity generated threatened their operations. By February 2026, Ogaji said the debt had climbed to N6.6 trillion.

She explained how the figure keeps growing. "From 2015 to December 2024, the debt profile grew to N4tn. In each month of 2025, there is a shortfall of N200bn, so if you calculate N200bn times 12, that is N2.4tn, making the whole debt N6.4tn after December 2025. We're already in March 2026."

Some experts go further. Energy analyst Ewetumo stated that total indebtedness in the sector stands at around N12 trillion to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), with sectional debts to GenCos alone around N6 trillion.

Why This Debt Exists: The Structural Problem Behind the Crisis

Nigeria's power sector debt is linked to poor revenue collection, under-metering, energy theft, weak DisCo remittances, and tariffs that often do not fully cover the cost of generation and supply. This created a long-running funding gap that piled up over the years.

The term "legacy debt" broadly refers to the Federal Government's financial obligations to power generation companies within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry spanning from 2015 to March 2025. These liabilities largely stemmed from unpaid subsidies used to cushion electricity tariffs for consumers after power was privatised.

The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc acted as the intermediary through which the government absorbed part of the cost to keep electricity affordable.

GenCos also face an additional burden many Nigerians do not know about. They are required to operate under Free Governor Mode of Operation (FGMO), which places added mechanical strain on equipment without corresponding financial recognition.

The result is a sector where money never properly flowed from consumers to distribution companies to generation companies to gas suppliers. Everyone in the chain ended up owed.

Gas Supply at Risk: The Real-World Consequence

This is not just an accounting dispute. The debt crisis has a direct and painful consequence for ordinary Nigerians who simply want the lights to stay on.

Gas suppliers have already threatened to halt fuel delivery to thermal power plants because of the unpaid debt. According to Ogaji, the government currently owes GenCos about N6.8 trillion, with approximately 70 percent of that debt attributed to thermal power plants. Of this N4.76 trillion, around N3.3 trillion is owed directly to gas suppliers, who provide the fuel that keeps thermal plants running.

Ogaji warned: "Gas is not available because suppliers have told us that if we need gas, we need to put money on the ground to get it into the pipeline. But without payment, there will be no gas."

The impact is already visible on the grid. As of April 3, 2026, only 3,345 megawatts had been allocated to electricity distribution companies. That figure represents a crisis level of supply for a country of over 200 million people.

Is This Announcement New, or Just a Rerun?

One of the sharpest criticisms of the April 2026 announcement is that Nigerians have heard it before.

In May 2024, the Minister of Power announced that President Tinubu had approved the gradual payment of power sector debts estimated at over N3.3 trillion. Adelabu said that about N1.3 trillion owed to power generation companies by the Federal Government would be paid via cash injections and promissory notes, while about $1.3 billion owed to gas companies would be paid via cash and future royalties.

That was nearly two years ago. As of March 2026, Ogaji confirmed that nothing had been paid to the GenCos.

Ewetumo raised concerns about transparency, noting that despite repeated announcements since 2024, there has been no clear payment framework or list to show how the N3.3 trillion would be disbursed.

A power sector expert quoted by BusinessDay put it plainly. "There must be consistency in the figures being communicated to stakeholders. Without a clear breakdown, it becomes difficult to align on any repayment framework or long-term solution."

What Nigeria's Labour Movement Has Said

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has also weighed in, though from a different angle.

The NLC accused the Association of Power Generation Companies of seeking an unjustifiable bailout, arguing that privatisation of the power sector has failed to deliver improved generation capacity or reliable service. A key concern raised by the union is that assets reportedly acquired for about N400 billion are now linked to demands running into trillions of naira, despite stagnant output since privatisation. "This is not economics; this is plunder. They call it business, but we call it a heist," NLC President Joe Ajaero said.

This adds yet another voice challenging the narrative. Whether the disagreement is about the debt figure itself, how it was calculated, or whether paying it will even improve electricity supply, the Tinubu government is under pressure from multiple directions.

What Needs to Happen for This to Work

Experts and GenCos are not simply rejecting the settlement. They are asking for specifics before they can accept it.

GenCos are requesting a detailed explanation of the debt, including legacy liabilities, subsidy shortfalls, and other contributing components. Stakeholders maintain that resolving discrepancies surrounding the N3.3 trillion claim will be critical to restoring confidence and ensuring the success of ongoing reforms.

Consumer protection advocate Kunle Olubiyo warned that the current scale of repayment is too limited to incentivise gas suppliers to increase supply to power plants. He said the earlier N501 billion bonds announced by the government have yet to significantly impact the sector due to stringent disbursement conditions that GenCos must meet.

APGC stressed that debt obligations should be defined by contractual agreements, metered generation data, and documented energy dispatch records, rather than arbitrary media statements.

For GenCos, the ask is straightforward: publish the audit, show the methodology, involve the companies in the reconciliation, and back announcements with actual cash transfers.

Bottom Line for Nigerians

The N3.3 trillion announcement carries real weight on paper. But until the government provides a transparent, independently verifiable breakdown of how that figure was calculated, it will continue to face resistance from the very companies it is meant to pay.

Nigeria has 30 power plants. Gas suppliers are demanding upfront payment. The grid is running at a fraction of its installed capacity. Every week of delay is another week of darkness.

The lights will not come on through press releases. They will come on when the debt is settled transparently, on mutually agreed figures, in actual cash. Nigeria deserves to know exactly how N3.3 trillion was computed and exactly how it will be paid.