Nigeria supplied electricity to Benin, Togo, and Niger in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the three countries collectively paid only $10.89 million of the $20.44 million billed, leaving a debt of $9.55 million—approximately N13.07 billion. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed this in its Q4 2025 report, citing reconciled market settlements submitted by April 2, 2026. The payment performance across the three nations stood at 53.28 percent, meaning less than half of the invoice value was remitted. Among the bilateral customers, Paras-SBEE in Benin paid 68.16 percent of its $2.45 million bill, while Paras-CEET in Togo settled 64.97 percent of its $2.18 million obligation. Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) in Benin paid only $0.46 million of $3.74 million due—just 12.30 percent—while its counterpart, Transcorp-SBEE (Afam 3), remitted 82.31 percent of its $3.90 million invoice. In Niger, Mainstream-NIGELEC paid $4.09 million of $5.96 million, or 68.63 percent. Odukpani-CEET in Togo made no payment on its $2.18 million invoice, recording zero percent remittance.
The fact that Odukpani-CEET in Togo paid nothing on a $2.18 million electricity bill while Nigerian households endure blackouts exposes a jarring imbalance in regional energy priorities. Nigeria continues to supply power abroad despite its own generation shortfall, and yet receives inconsistent returns from neighboring off-takers, with one company not paying a single dollar. The NERC report shows this is not an anomaly but a pattern—Transcorp-SBEE (Ughelli) recovered only 12.30 percent of its billed amount, suggesting weak enforcement mechanisms for cross-border power contracts.
This situation reflects deeper structural issues in Nigeria's power sector: revenue leakage, poor bilateral enforcement, and the political economy of energy diplomacy. While domestic consumers face rising tariffs and erratic supply, generation companies are left exposed to foreign default risk without clear recourse. The $9.55 million loss in one quarter could have powered thousands of homes or supported grid maintenance, but instead it vanished into an opaque regional trade framework.
Ordinary Nigerians bear the cost indirectly—through underfunded generation capacity and a system that prioritizes export obligations over domestic reliability. Residents of Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt see little benefit from a power sector that fuels neighbors while failing them daily.
This fits a long-standing trend: Nigeria exporting energy it cannot afford to spare, with little leverage to demand payment. The pattern reveals more about Nigeria's weak energy sovereignty than regional cooperation.
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