The presidential villa, the seat of Nigeria’s political power, will be thrown into darkness in 10 days’ time if the backlog of debts are not cleared.
According to a disconnection notice published in the Punch newspaper on February 19, the Presidential Villa and 85 other ministries, departments, and agencies under the federal and state governments will be affected by the disconnection.
The DISCO reveals that they were owed a total sum of N47,195 billion in outstanding debts as of December 2023.
It listed the Chief of Defence Staff, Barracks and Military formations, the Federal Capital Territory Authority, and the Ministry of Finance as its top debtors in the period under review.
Others are the Ministry of Power, Ministry of State Petroleum, Central Bank Governor, the Independence National Electoral Commission, INEC, Nigeria Police Force, and other MDAs listed as debtors to AEDC.
“The relevant MDAs are hereby given that AEDC shall, after the expiration of 10 days from the day of the publication, that is, after Wednesday, February 28, 2024, embark on disconnection of service to them until they discharge their obligation to pay us their debts”, the company stated.
The Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu last week said that the government inherited N3 trillion in electricity subsidy debts.
According to him, the Nigerian government would have to discontinue electricity subsidies.