Reps query Azura-Edo power over undisclosed ₦18bn payments

The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating power sector spending from 2007 to 2024 has queried the Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant over ₦18 billion it received from the Federal Government in 2023.

At the resumed hearing on Monday in Abuja, the committee chairman, Arch. Ibrahim Almustapha Aliyu, said records showed that Azura received more than ₦18 billion from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) between January and June 2023, noting that the company failed to disclose the payments in its submissions.

Azura’s Head of Legal and Compliance, Akeem Olabende, admitted that the company did not provide documents on the transactions.

Advertisement

He also confirmed that Azura omitted details on loans, grants, budgetary allocations and other financial inflows linked to federal spending.

Olabende blamed the omission on a misunderstanding of the committee’s requirements, saying the company focused mainly on operational data such as generation profile and plant availability.

Aliyu reminded the firm that the investigation covers both technical output and government financial commitments to private operators, including NBET and CBN intervention programmes.

Advertisement

Committee members warned that failure to make full disclosures could prompt the panel to invoke its constitutional powers.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Yola Electricity Distribution Company, Engr. Abdulrahman Isa was given a new date to defend the company’s submissions.