Lawmakers Demand Answers On Azura’s ₦18bn

The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating Nigeria’s power sector reforms and expenditure from 2007 to 2024 has queried Azura-Edo Power Plant over the ₦18 billion the company received from the Federal Government through the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) within a six-month period in 2023.

During the resumed investigative hearing in Abuja, the Chairman of the committee, Ibrahim Aliyu, demanded explanations after discovering that Azura failed to disclose or account for the funds in its submission to the panel.

Aliyu cited official records showing that between January and June 2023, Azura received over ₦18 billion as excess tariff payments and other financial settlements from NBET payments the committee said directly fall under the scope of ongoing investigations into public expenditure on the power sector.

But when asked to speak to the transactions, Akeem Olabende, Azura’s Head of Legal and Compliance and its representative at the hearing, admitted that the company did not submit any document relating to the payments.

He also confirmed that Azura omitted information on budgetary allocations, loans, grants, bank settlements, and other financial inflows connected to federal power-sector spending.

Olabende explained that the omission was due to what he described as a misunderstanding of the committee’s documentation requirements, noting that Azura had focused its submission on operational data such as installed capacity, generation profile, dispatch performance, and availability figures.

Aliyu stressed that the probe was not limited to technical performance but also the financial commitments of the Federal Government to private operators particularly through NBET, the Central Bank’s intervention windows, and budgetary appropriations.

Members of the committee reminded Azura of its obligations under the Constitution, warning that continued failure to provide full disclosures could compel the committee to invoke legislative powers to ensure compliance.

The Committee gave Managing Director of Yola Electric Distribution Company, Abdulrahman Isa, another date to defend its submissions.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji