Electricity distribution companies collected N196.68 billion from customers in February 2026, even as consumers continued to complain about poor and unreliable power supply, according to the latest commercial performance data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. The figure represents a 3.9 percent decline from the N204.75 billion collected in January 2026, suggesting weaker revenue inflow despite sustained consumer billing. NERC’s data show the DisCos billed customers N242.29 billion in February and achieved a collection efficiency of 81.17 percent, leaving about N45.61 billion uncollected.
The commission’s figures also show the depth of the sector’s commercial weakness. Electricity received by the DisCos from generation companies was valued at N277.09 billion during the month, meaning the utilities recorded about N34.8 billion in billing losses before even accounting for the large portion of billed revenue that was never recovered. The numbers reinforce a long-running contradiction in Nigeria’s power market: consumers keep paying heavily for electricity, yet the sector still struggles with cost recovery, metering gaps, weak collections and persistent supply shortfalls.
Energy economist Wumi Iledare said the problem goes far beyond tariffs, arguing that Nigeria’s electricity crisis cannot be solved sustainably unless policymakers shift their attention from short-term pricing debates to the market’s deeper structure. According to him, electricity systems are not just engineering problems but economic and institutional ones, where affordability, availability, reliability and sustainability depend on governance, fuel supply, transmission capacity and market organisation.
Iledare warned that tariff adjustments alone will not fix the sector without broader reform. He criticised band-based pricing as flawed, questioned the logic of restructuring without adequate institutional depth, and said Nigeria moved too quickly away from vertical integration before building the regulatory strength and infrastructure needed for a competitive market. In his view, the country must first define the kind of electricity system it wants for industrialisation, energy security and inclusive growth, then build its institutions around that goal.
