FG debt, gas shortage cripple operations of 191MW Ibom Power plant

Ibom Power Company Limited, a state-owned power plant in Nigeria, experienced severe operational disruptions, losing almost a full year of electricity generation in 2025/2026 due to a prolonged gas supply crisis. The 191-megawatt facility received natural gas for merely 30 days over the past year, forcing repeated shutdowns and leaving it idle for approximately 11 months. This situation starkly illustrates the deepening liquidity challenges plaguing Nigeria's power sector. The company attributes the disruption to the failure to settle legacy debts owed to electricity generation companies, which has hampered its ability to pay for gas supplies and finance essential maintenance. The plant's Managing Director, Engr Camillus Umoh, stated that the Federal Government still owes Ibom Power about N15.7 billion out of a total N28 billion in legacy debt accumulated since 2015. Consequently, Ibom Power's gas supplier, Acugas, has ceased extending credit and now operates on a strict "pay-before-supply" basis. Gas deliveries from Acugas' Uquo gas field, which began declining nearly two years prior, finally ceased in June 2026. Umoh explained that gas supply ended because the supplier demanded upfront payments to avoid accumulating further unpaid debts. Beyond outstanding invoices, Acugas faces technical challenges requiring new investments, making continued credit financing of gas deliveries impossible for Ibom Power. This experience mirrors a broader financial crisis within the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), where generation companies are collectively owed trillions of naira for power already supplied to the national grid. Discussions are ongoing between generation companies and the Federal Government regarding modalities for settling these legacy debts, though only about 48% of acknowledged debts have been incorporated into the current repayment framework.

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For the past 360 days, our aggregated gas availability has been less than 30 days. Even during those few days, supply was not at optimal levels, with some deliveries at only 30 to 40 percent of plant requirement. That forced us to operate below capacity or shut down completely.