Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of misleading Nigerians over the settlement of debts owed to power generation companies (GenCos), saying the latest revelations by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) have exposed what he described as the government’s “power debt deception” and raised serious questions about transparency, accountability and fiscal management.
The allegation was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by Atiku’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in which the former vice president reacted to comments by the Executive Secretary of the APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji, regarding the Federal Government’s payment of debts owed to electricity generation companies.
According to Atiku, the disclosure by the APGC had punctured what he described as the Tinubu administration’s carefully crafted narrative that it had substantially settled debts in the power sector.
“The latest revelations by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) are the final collapse of the Tinubu administration’s carefully manufactured narrative on the settlement of power sector debts.”
He argued that Nigerians had now been presented with evidence suggesting that repeated bond issuances by the Federal Government had become “an endless cycle of borrowing without accountability.”
The Opposition Leader said the disclosure by the Executive Secretary of the APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji, that the widely publicised ₦501 billion bond had not been fully disbursed contradicted repeated government claims that the intervention had been executed.
According to him, the revelation raises “grave questions about transparency, fiscal discipline and the credibility of the administration’s economic management.”
“Even more damning is her challenge to the Federal Government to publish the complete list of beneficiaries, the amounts paid to each generation company and the dates of such payments if indeed the money has been released.
“Dr. Ogaji’s vivid description of the government’s token payment as ‘like rubbing oil on a crying child’s mouth to imply that he had eaten’ perfectly captures the Tinubu administration’s approach to governance: grand announcements, impressive figures, glossy headlines, and very little substance.”
He alleged that Nigerians had, for months, been inundated with announcements of multiple interventions aimed at settling debts in the electricity sector, yet the liabilities continued to rise.
“First came the promise of a ₦590 billion intervention. Then came the ₦501 billion bond, celebrated as a major breakthrough. Before long, the country was told about a multi-trillion-naira settlement programme. Today, another debt package is being contemplated while the very companies the government claims to have settled insist that the liabilities have continued to grow.”
Describing the situation as more than a policy failure, Atiku said it had become “a crisis of credibility.”
“The question is no longer whether the government is borrowing. The question is why Nigerians are repeatedly being asked to applaud fresh borrowing to solve a problem that government insists it solved only yesterday.
“If the earlier interventions worked, why is another intervention necessary? If the debts were substantially cleared, why are the creditors saying otherwise? If the government has faithfully discharged its obligations, why has the Association of Power Generation Companies publicly challenged the Minister’s claims and demanded documentary evidence?”
According to Atiku, these were not questions from the political opposition but concerns raised by stakeholders within the power industry.
He urged the Federal Government to immediately accept Ogaji’s challenge by making full details of the intervention public.
“Publish the names of every generation company that received payment. Publish the amount paid to each beneficiary. Publish the dates the payments were made. Publish the outstanding balances.”
He insisted that “public money cannot disappear into official press statements,” adding that “every naira borrowed in the name of Nigerians must be traceable to its destination.
“Sadly, this administration appears to believe that governance is an endless exercise in announcements. Every challenge is met with another ceremony. Every crisis is greeted with another headline. Every unresolved debt is answered with another borrowing plan.”
He argued that despite repeated borrowing, electricity generation remained constrained, investors remained uncertain, businesses continued to bear the cost of self-generated power and ordinary Nigerians still paid heavily despite persistent electricity shortages.
Atiku also maintained that the administration could not continue to “move the goalposts” by seeking new loans without accounting for previous interventions.
“It cannot continue to ask Nigerians to celebrate fresh debt while refusing to provide a transparent account of previous interventions. Governance is not measured by the size of bond issuances but by measurable outcomes. The objective is not to float more bonds; it is to solve the problem.”
He called on the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation and other oversight institutions to conduct a comprehensive public audit of all power sector intervention funds raised under the current administration.
According to him, Nigerians deserve to know “precisely how much has been borrowed, how much has been disbursed, who received the money, and why the debts continue to rise despite repeated claims of settlement.”
Atiku concluded by insisting that transparency and accountability were constitutional obligations rather than acts of goodwill.
“Darkness has become one of the most expensive commodities in Nigeria. The least Nigerians deserve is the truth.”
He added that Nigerians were “tired of official declarations that dissolve upon contact with reality,” warning that history would judge the Tinubu administration not by the number of bonds it floated but by whether those borrowings translated into improved electricity supply for Nigerians.
