Why We Sell Electricity To Niger, Benin, Togo ― Presidency

The Presidency today explained why Nigeria  entered into bilateral agreements to exports electricity to Niger, Benin and Togo.

A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja, explained that the agreement was reached so that the three countries will not build dams on River Niger.

The presidency however stated that Niger is owing Nigeria USD 16 million, while Benin owes USD four million.

It added that the actual cost of electricity generated within 2018-2019 by all the electricity generation companies in Nigeria was about N1.2 trillion ($4 billion).

The presidency made this known, following reports that Nigeria exports US81.4 billion electricity on credit in the midst of a persistent blackout.

Shehu described the media report as “most disappointing”, adding that “sensationalism has dominated the thinking and ethos of institutions that citizens look up to with trust, confidence and reliability.”

Describing the said report as hyperbolic and terribly misleading, the Federal Government said that apart from the fact that the figure quoted was far from accurate, out-dated and not reflective of the current reality, the overall cost of power generated and sold by Nigeria in the period covered by report was not anywhere close to what was mentioned by the paper.