Seplat Energy’s N20 Billion Gas Debt Claim Sparks Forensic Audit at Moribund Sapele Power Plant

Seplat Energy’s assertion that the long-dormant Sapele Power Plant owes it N20 billion for gas supplied has prompted Nigeria’s House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on power sector reforms and expenditure between 2006 and 2024 to set up a seven-member sub-committee to conduct a forensic audit into gas utilisation by electricity generation companies nationwide.

The development raises a pressing question: how can a power plant that has been inactive accumulate such a massive debt for gas consumption?

The decision followed the adoption of a motion by committee member Harrison Nwadike, who questioned the rationale behind the continued supply of gas to the Sapele Power Plant over the past year despite its inactivity.

Nwadike disclosed that during a recent oversight visit to the facility in Sapele, Delta State, the committee found the plant non-operational. He noted that although gas had allegedly been supplied, the plant had not generated electricity.

Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Al-Mustapha Aliyu, highlighted widespread public concern that Seplat Energy has not been supplying adequate gas to generation companies (Gencos), a situation he said has hindered the optimal performance of some power plants and negatively affected the country’s electricity supply.

Responding to the allegations, Seplat Energy Managing Director Mrs. Ibiada Itoto rejected the committee’s claims, affirming the company’s continued support for the federal government’s power sector reform agenda.

She described as untrue the suggestion that Seplat Energy is undermining national reforms, stressing that the company’s primary goal is to ensure the sustainability and growth of Nigeria’s power sector.

The company’s General Manager, Gas, Olubukola Fasoyin, told the committee that the Sapele Power Plant currently owes Seplat N20 billion for gas supplied.

Despite these explanations, committee members insisted that Seplat may have committed an economic crime by allegedly enabling a power plant to divert gas meant for electricity generation over the past year.

The committee subsequently established a seven-member forensic audit sub-committee, chaired by Afam Ogene and including Kafilat Ogbara, Salisu Magaji, Faud Kayode Laguda, Harrison Nwadike, among others, to lead the investigation.

As of 2025, the federal government’s indebtedness to Seplat and other gas suppliers stood at $1.3 trillion, with plans underway to settle approximately N185 billion of this sum.