Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Federal Government to disclose the beneficiaries of the N501 billion bond issued to offset debts owed to electricity generation companies (GenCos).

Atiku's demand follows allegations by the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) that the bond proceeds have not been fully disbursed despite repeated assurances from the government.

The Federal Government announced in January that it had successfully raised a N501 billion inaugural bond under the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme (PPSDRP) to address mounting liabilities in the electricity sector.

In February, APGC Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, revealed that the government owed GenCos about N6.5 trillion. Subsequently, in April, President Bola Tinubu approved a payment plan aimed at clearing outstanding obligations in the sector under the Presidential Power Sector Financial Reform Programme.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Ogaji’s remarks exposed contradictions in the government's claims regarding the settlement of power sector debts.

According to the former vice-president, the APGC chief's challenge to the government to provide details of the bond disbursement raises serious concerns about transparency and fiscal accountability.

“Dr. Ogaji’s vivid description of the government’s token payment as ‘like rubbing oil on a crying child’s mouth to imply that he had eaten’ perfectly captures the Tinubu administration’s approach to governance: grand announcements, impressive figures, glossy headlines, and very little substance,” the statement said.

Atiku argued that despite several announcements of interventions to settle debts in the power sector, the underlying crisis remains unresolved.

“This is no longer a policy failure. It is a crisis of credibility,” he said.

“The question is no longer whether the government is borrowing. The question is why Nigerians are repeatedly being asked to applaud fresh borrowing to solve a problem that government insists it solved only yesterday.”

He urged the Federal Government to publish the names of all GenCos that received payments from the bond, the amounts disbursed, dates of payment, and the outstanding balances yet to be settled.

“Public money cannot disappear into official press statements. Every naira borrowed in the name of Nigerians must be traceable to its destination,” Atiku said.

The former vice-president also accused the Tinubu administration of relying on borrowing rather than addressing the structural challenges facing the power sector.

“Every challenge is met with another ceremony. Every crisis is greeted with another headline. Every unresolved debt is answered with another borrowing plan,” he said.

“Yet electricity generation remains constrained, investors remain uncertain, businesses continue to spend fortunes powering themselves, and ordinary Nigerians still pay exorbitantly for darkness.”

Atiku further called on the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation and other oversight agencies to conduct a comprehensive audit of all power sector intervention funds raised under the current administration.

“Nigerians deserve to know precisely how much has been borrowed, how much has been disbursed, who received the money, and why the debts continue to rise despite repeated claims of settlement,” he said.

Describing electricity shortages as an expensive burden on citizens and businesses, Atiku said the government must account for previous borrowings before seeking additional debt.

“Darkness has become one of the most expensive commodities in Nigeria,” he added.