Elumelu Urges FG to Expedite Payment of N4trn Power Sector Debts to Boost Electricity

James Emejo in Abuja

The Chairman, Transnational Corporation Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu, yesterday urged the federal government to expedite payment of over N4 trillion legacy debts owed to power companies to enhance electricity availability in the country.

Amid the worsening electricity crisis in recent times, power companies had repeatedly attributed the challenges to non-payment of the federal government’s indebtedness which is long-overdue.

This was as President/Group Chief Executive, Transcorp, Owen Omogiafo, also confirmed that the federal government has actually commenced the repayment of part of the legacy liabilities, a move that could improve electricity availability.

Both Elumelu and Omogiafo spoke at the 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Transcorp in Abuja.

Elumelu, who chaired the proceedings, specifically commended the government for signing agreements that would eventually lead to the settlement of total liabilities to power firms.

It was further learnt that Transcorp is owed about N543 billion out of the total indebtedness.

This came as shareholders of the company approved the sum of N20.32 billion as dividend for 2025.

This translated to a full dividend of N2 per share, comprising the interim dividend of 40 kobo paid earlier in August and a final dividend of N1.60 kobo per share – approved at the AGM.

Shareholders also commended the board and management for the improvements in dividends and financial performance for the period.

The company’s revenue increased 33 per cent to N544 billion from N408 billion in 2024 while total assets also grew by 33 per cent to over N1 trillion compared to N751.6 billion in the preceding year.

Speaking with THISDAY shortly after the meeting, Elumelu said, “Our purpose is about improving lives and transforming our country. Our performance is driven by a commitment to do that – the mantra and mission of making life better for everyone.

“I will dedicate this 2025 financial performance to the Group CEO, the subsidiary CEOs, the executive management team at Transcorp, and of course, the board and our shareholders who have been extremely supportive.

“Each time we call on shareholders to invest, to put in more money, they do so. I think the operating environment is gradually also improving and all of these contributed to the increase in performance that you have seen.

“But more importantly, to our shareholders who have stayed with us through the tide of COVID-19, they are now happy to receive dividends. That is fantastic, that is significant.

“And what management has pledged is that we are starting to do more. Transnational Corporation Plc, is a Nigerian iconic institution. It is a leading conglomerate in Nigeria and on the continent. We want to continue to do more, to impact lives more positively, to improve lives and transform Nigeria.”

Continuing, he said, “That is why we invest in electricity. Improvement in infrastructure and electricity to us is the bedrock of economic transformation for Nigeria. It is the bedrock of an improved standard of living for our people. That is why we do that.

“When we invest in hospitality, we do so because we want to attract investors to Nigeria. When investors come and they are well taken care of, and there is a decent hotel, they want to come back.

“And we need massive investments by all these investors in our country to help drive our economic development, which will help reduce poverty and create employment for our youths.”

“So, everything we do in the Transcorp Group — investments in electricity, power distribution, power generation, investments in gas, the energy sector, hospitality, and renewable energy — is all there because to us, it is about improving lives and making major investments in electricity forever.”

Also, speaking to THISDAY, Omogiafo said, “First of all, let me start by commending the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This is the greatest progress we have made as it relates to dealing with the historical debt.

“For us in Transcorp Power and TransAfam, we have actually signed our settlement and reconciliation agreements. For TransAfam, payments have already started, and for Transcorp Power, it will commence sometime this year.”

She said, “We are commending the government because in the past, the debts were not even acknowledged to some extent. But now, there are people around the table.

“And with the recent leadership changes in the power sector, where we have seen two very significant appointments — the minister and the special adviser — it shows the focus needed on power. We now have a Special Adviser on Power. It has never happened before.

“So, it gives a lot of confidence. As investors and operators in this space, we are happy with what we are seeing, though we believe more can still be done. And we will continue working with critical stakeholders to ensure that more gets done.”

Osezua Knocks Public

Sector Reforms in Nigeria

A

 leading scholar of Public Administration, Prof. Ehiyamen Osezua, has decried ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s public sector as mere motion without movement, contending that they are short of service-delivery outcomes.

Delivering the 11th Inaugural Lecture at the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria titled, “Governing Without Results: Public Administration, Leadership and Institutional Failure in Nigeria. Quo Vadis?,” Osezua, who is Dean, School of Management Sciences, said governance systems in the country remain active, but development outcomes are uneven.

According to him, “Nigeria’s experience reflects a broader governance paradox in which administrative systems remain structurally active yet functionally constrained, producing what may be conceptualized as a condition of governing without results.

This condition exemplifies the central thrust of this lecture: that governing without results reflects not the absence of administrative structures, but the weakness of institutional mechanisms required to translate “policy intent into public value”.

Alluding to the higher education governance as an empirical lens for understanding institutional failure in Nigeria, Osezua posited that “institutional failure is not solely a function of financial scarcity or policy inadequacy but also of leadership praxis and accountability discipline.”

A useful entry point into the problem of institutional failure in Nigerian higher education, according to him, was the contrast between system expansion and institutional experience.

“As of 20 March 2026, the National Universities Commission recognises 309 universities in Nigeria, comprising 74 federal, 67 state, and 168 private universities,” Osesua revealed.

“This numerical growth suggests an expanding university system. Yet the same policy environment now reflects concern about whether the rapid multiplication of institutions has been matched by adequate funding, infrastructure, stang, and governance capacity.

“Indeed, in August 2025, the Federal Government imposed a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, citing overstretched resources, under-utilised institutions, and declining academic quality.

“The implication is clear: the problem is no longer simply one of access or proliferation, but one of whether the system possesses the institutional depth to sustain quality.

“Funding data reinforces this concern. In the 2026 education budget proposal, the Federal Government allocated N966.9 billion to universities, which represents the largest single share within the education sector envelope presented by the Ministry of Education. On paper, this appears substantial.

“However, recent ocial budget defence proceedings before the National Assembly also reveal persistent concern about capital planning, fiscal discipline, monitoring, accountability, and the eective use of appropriated funds in the Nigerian University System. In other words, the challenge is not merely the size of allocation, but the enduring gap between budgetary promises and institutional delivery.

“Universities do not experience budget figures in the abstract; they experience them through laboratories, classrooms, sta welfare, research support, power supply, digital infrastructure, and the regularity of institutional processes.

“When releases are delayed, implementation weak, or capital projects poorly executed, the academic experience remains fragile despite impressive appropriation headlines,” he maintained.

Stressing further, Osesua, a professor at the Department of Public Administration in the School of Management Sciences and a leading scholar on Higher Education and Conflict Management, argued that “Reform, in other words, should not be measured only by policy launches, curriculum redesign, or official roadmaps, but by whether it improves the lived reality of the university as a community of scholarship.”