President Bola Tinubu has directed the Presidential Power Sector Task Force to raise a N4 trillion bond to settle verified legacy debts in Nigeria’s electricity sector, describing the move as part of efforts to stabilise power supply and strengthen the industry.

Speaking during his Democracy Day address on Friday, the president said the power sector he inherited in 2023 was plagued by chronic generation shortfalls, unreliable gas supply, weak transmission infrastructure, huge distribution losses and a metering deficit exceeding four million customers.

Tinubu noted that the sector was also burdened by massive unpaid obligations, which created liquidity challenges across the electricity value chain and hindered the operations of generation and distribution companies.

According to him, the task force has been mandated to tackle these long-standing issues, including reducing the metering gap and clearing verified debts through the proposed bond programme.

The president said his administration had signed the Electricity Act to decentralise the sector, enabling states to participate in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. He added that the Rural Electrification Agency, supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, is expanding off-grid and mini-grid projects to underserved communities, schools, markets and healthcare facilities.

Tinubu stressed that reliable electricity remains critical to Nigeria’s economic growth, industrial development and job creation, insisting that access to power is a democratic dividend that Nigerians deserve.

The N4 trillion debt settlement plan was first announced in October 2025 by former Power Minister Bayo Adelabu, who disclosed that electricity generation companies (GenCos) and gas suppliers were owed about N4 trillion in accumulated debts. The Federal Government and GenCos later agreed on modalities for implementing the settlement framework.