A recent first-quarter report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that Niger owes Nigeria N4.22bn ($5.48m) for power supply.

The report highlighted that the Nigerien state power company, Nigerien Electricity Society, has not remitted the $5.48m invoice for power supply issued by the Nigerian market operator.

The NERC report also noted that other international customers such as Paras-SBEE, Transcorp-SBEE, and Odukpani-CEET had not made payments against their respective invoices.

As a response to the payment delays, NERC instructed the Market Operator to enforce market rules to address the payment issues displayed by various market participants.

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This comes after the interruption of power supply from Nigeria to Niger on August 2.

The action was taken following a coup d’état in Niger, which led to ECOWAS imposing sanctions against the military personnel involved.

Niger, which heavily relies on Nigeria for electricity supply, is also working on completing its own dam by 2025 to reduce its energy dependence.

In the meantime, the country is facing rolling blackouts in major cities, a departure from its usual regular and reliable power supply.