3 Northern DisCos Responsible For 97% Of Unpaid Market Invoices In Q2 – NERC

Three northern electricity distribution companies (DisCos) accounted for N24.16 billion, or about 97 per cent, of the N24.94 billion left unpaid in electricity market invoices in the second quarter of 2026, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The Kano (KEDCO), Kaduna (KAEDCO) and Jos (JED) DisCos accounted for about 15 per cent of the N410.38 billion invoiced by the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and the Market Operator (MO), but were responsible for almost the entire industry shortfall.

The three DisCos also left N54.37 billion in customer bills uncollected and had about 1.35 million customers without meters, NERC’s second-quarter performance data showed.

The figures cover the period before NERC intervened in the management of Kaduna DisCo. The regulator dissolved the company’s board in August, after the quarter had ended.

All 11 DisCos collectively paid N385.44 billion of the N410.38 billion invoiced during the quarter.

Kaduna DisCo paid N11.29 billion of its N21.74 billion invoice, leaving N10.45 billion unpaid, representing a remittance rate of 51.91 per cent.

Jos paid N12.21 billion of its N19.26 billion invoice, leaving N7.05 billion unpaid, with a remittance rate of 63.38 per cent.

Kano paid N13.68 billion of its N20.34 billion invoice, leaving N6.66 billion unpaid, representing a remittance rate of 67.28 per cent.

Kano recorded the steepest decline in remittance performance, with its rate falling by 17.78 percentage points from the first quarter. Jos declined by 4.88 percentage points, while Kaduna improved by 5.51 percentage points but remained the industry’s weakest payer.

Five DisCos paid their invoices in full: Ikeja Electric, N68.19 billion; Eko, N48.77 billion; Benin, N39.66 billion; Enugu, N33.72 billion; and Port Harcourt, N29.03 billion.

Abuja, Ibadan and Yola also paid at least 99 per cent of their invoices.

NERC Takes Over Kaduna DisCo Management

NERC’s Order No. NERC/2026/086, which took effect on August 10, 2026, dissolved the board of Kaduna DisCo and appointed an interim board of special directors to oversee the company during a transition period.

The interim board was inaugurated on August 19, with Abubakar Umar Hashidu appointed interim administrator. NERC said Dr Abdullahi Garba would chair the board for an initial one-year term, while Hashidu would serve as administrator for six months.

According to the regulator, Kaduna DisCo’s cumulative market obligations since privatisation stood at about N456.5 billion as of May 2026. Of that amount, N415.5 billion was owed to NBET and N41 billion to the Nigerian Independent System Operator.

NERC also reported that Kaduna DisCo remitted only 41.93 per cent of its adjusted market invoices in 2025.

The second-quarter figures therefore reflect the company’s performance before the regulatory intervention, showing that it paid only about half of its market invoices in the quarter preceding the takeover.

Kano Records Highest Uncollected Bills

Across the industry, DisCos collected N603.64 billion of the N744.67 billion billed to customers during the quarter, leaving approximately N141 billion uncollected.

NERC attributed the shortfall to inefficiencies in the DisCos’ revenue collection.

Kano recorded the highest amount of uncollected bills at N24.70 billion. It collected N22.57 billion of the N47.27 billion billed, representing a collection efficiency of 47.74 per cent, down 15.01 percentage points from the first quarter.

**Abuja DisCo, which billed **N126.77 billion, left N20.97 billion uncollected.

Jos left N15.01 billion uncollected after collecting N18.37 billion of the N33.38 billion billed, representing a collection efficiency of 55.02 per cent, down 3.38 percentage points.

Kaduna left N14.66 billion uncollected, having collected N15.98 billion of the N30.64 billion billed. Its collection efficiency stood at 52.16 per cent, an improvement of 6.33 percentage points.

Combined, the three northern DisCos billed N111.29 billion, about 15 per cent of the industry total, but accounted for approximately 39 per cent of all uncollected customer bills.

By comparison, Benin DisCo collected N51.27 billion of the N55.31 billion billed, representing a collection efficiency of 92.68 per cent. Ikeja Electric collected N113.37 billion of N122.95 billion, or 92.20 per cent, while Eko collected N104.12 billion of N116.48 billion, or 89.39 per cent.

Losses Far Exceed Regulatory Targets

The three DisCos also recorded some of the widest gaps between actual aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses and their regulatory targets.

Kaduna recorded losses of 67.70 per cent against a target of 18.18 per cent, leaving a gap of 49.52 percentage points.

Kano’s losses stood at 60.43 per cent against a target of 17.45 per cent, a gap of 42.98 percentage points that widened by 15.35 points from the first quarter.

Jos recorded losses of 61.30 per cent against a target of 20.80 per cent, representing a gap of 40.50 percentage points, up 3.30 points from the previous quarter.

Industry-wide, average ATC&C losses stood at 36.23 per cent against a regulatory target of 16.92 per cent.

NERC’s regulatory framework requires DisCos to bear losses above their approved targets rather than pass the excess costs on to customers.

4.85 Million Customers Remain Unmetered

The data also showed that 4,845,647 of Nigeria’s 12,589,486 active electricity customers remained unmetered as of the second quarter of 2026.

Of the total, 7,743,839 customers had meters, while DisCos installed 350,270 additional meters during the quarter.

Kano had metered 328,000 of its 806,000 customers, representing 40.67 per cent, after installing 18,983 meters during the quarter.

Kaduna had metered 221,000 of its 555,000 customers, or 39.83 per cent, with 21,566 new meters installed.

Jos had the lowest metering rate among the three, with 294,000 of its 829,000 customers metered, representing 35.42 per cent. The company installed 9,177 meters during the quarter.

Yola recorded the second-lowest metering rate nationwide at 36.20 per cent, with 186,000 of its 514,000 customers metered. Despite its low metering rate, the DisCo paid 99.74 per cent of its market invoices.

In contrast, Eko had metered 88.70 per cent of its customers, while Ikeja Electric recorded a metering rate of 87.91 per cent.