In a troubling development for Nigerian electricity consumers, the country’s power distribution companies (Discos) have raised electricity bills by an alarming 106.68 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year. This surge in billing comes despite ongoing widespread complaints of erratic and unreliable power supply across the nation.
An in-depth analysis of official data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reveals that the Discos billed customers a total of N761.91 billion between January and March 2025. However, actual revenue collection during this period was significantly lower at N559.3 billion, resulting in a staggering shortfall of N202.61 billion — or 26.6 percent — reflecting ongoing challenges with payment compliance and revenue assurance.
While the revenue collection efficiency of 73.4 percent in Q1 2025 shows slight improvement from the 79.1 percent efficiency in the same period of 2024, the absolute amount of revenue lost has more than doubled year-on-year. This highlights a deepening financial crisis in Nigeria’s power sector, with wide disparities among the Discos.
Ikeja Electric topped the billing chart at N129.91 billion but collected only N101.2 billion, leaving a revenue gap of N28.71 billion (22.1%). Similarly, Eko Disco billed N123.76 billion but collected just N101.51 billion, a shortfall of 17.9%. Abuja Disco’s figures showed a 19.7% revenue loss after billing N109.73 billion and collecting N88.1 billion.
More alarming gaps were recorded among other Discos such as Jos, Kaduna, and Yola. Jos Disco collected only 47% of its billed amount, with a revenue shortfall exceeding 52%. Kaduna and Yola recorded losses of 51.6% and 43.1%, respectively, underscoring persistent operational inefficiencies in parts of the country.
These deficits underscore long-standing concerns over Discos’ ability to maintain operational efficiency, especially in northern regions where revenue collection rates remain critically low. Experts argue that poor investment in metering infrastructure, network maintenance, and collection systems continues to hamper revenue assurance efforts.
Speaking at a recent media briefing, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, expressed disappointment at what he described as the “chronic underperformance” of Discos. He attributed the sector’s woes to their failure to invest adequately in upgrading metering and distribution networks, which limits their capacity to implement cost-reflective tariffs and attract further investment.
“The Discos are not meeting expectations. There is a serious lack of investment in infrastructure and revenue assurance mechanisms,” Adelabu said. He warned that regulatory authorities are reviewing performance agreements and may revoke licenses of persistently underperforming companies if improvements are not seen.
Energy analysts warn that continued revenue shortfalls not only threaten the financial health of Discos but also jeopardize the entire electricity supply chain — including generation and transmission companies that rely on steady remittances to operate effectively.
Consumers continue to face poor power delivery with frequent outages and technical faults. In response to billing irregularities, Abuja Disco recently refunded over N241 million to nearly 10,000 customers between June 2024 and January 2025, reflecting systemic billing and regulatory compliance challenges.
The NERC report emphasizes the urgent need for all Discos to close the metering gap, improve network reliability, and enhance billing transparency to rebuild consumer trust and boost revenue collections.
Mr. Uket Obonga, National Secretary of the Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, criticized the Discos for “gross underperformance” and alleged ongoing violations such as load rejection and misbilling of unmetered customers despite regulatory sanctions.
Obonga highlighted that the root problem lies in insufficient capital investment post-privatization. “After acquisition, there has been little meaningful investment in infrastructure upgrades, leading to high Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses, poor revenue collection, and overall market inefficiency,” he said.
Without urgent reforms and increased accountability, the chronic challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity distribution sector are likely to persist, prolonging consumers’ hardship and undermining efforts to deliver reliable power nationwide.