Elumelu meets Tinubu, urges settlement of power sector debts to curb outages

CHAIRMAN of Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu, has applauded the ongoing economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu, while urging the Federal Government to urgently clear outstanding debts owed to electricity service providers to improve power supply across the country.

Mr Elumelu made the call on Friday after a meeting with the president at the State House in Abuja, where he reviewed the state of the economy and praised the direction of fiscal and monetary policies.

According to him, resolving the power sector’s debt burden was critical to boosting electricity generation and remained central to Nigeria’s long-term economic growth.

He expressed confidence that President Tinubu was committed to fast-tracking the payment of outstanding obligations to power generation companies, noting that this would enable them to operate more efficiently and expand access to electricity.

“Mr President understands this challenge and is committed to doing more, especially helping to fast-track the payment of the power sector debt so that power generators can do more for the country,” Mr Elumelu said.

READ ALSO: Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings owed UBA N43.4bn by December 2023

He added that improving electricity supply was vital for productivity, industrial growth, and overall national development.

Mr Elumelu also commended the administration’s foreign exchange (FX) reforms, describing them as a major milestone that had brought stability and predictability to the market.

He said the changes introduced under President Tinubu and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had transformed the financial landscape, as access to FX was no longer the dominant concern it once was.

“There was a time when, out of every 10 calls I received on banking issues, 7 were about access to foreign exchange. Today, not even one is about FX. That market is totally sorted,” he said.

He described the current economic climate as encouraging, noting that policy clarity and consistency were key drivers of investor confidence.

Mr Elumelu praised the CBN leadership for implementing reforms that had restored confidence in the system, adding that the resident deserves credit for creating an enabling environment for the central bank to operate effectively.

“If you look at what the central bank governor and his team are doing, it’s quite encouraging. We now have stability and predictability,” he said.

Beyond FX reforms, Mr Elumelu said he also discussed with the president the need to deepen support for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), which he described as the engine of economic growth.

He noted that President Tinubu is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs and is exploring ways to use tax reforms and development finance to expand opportunities for small businesses.

Mr Elumelu disclosed that the President also expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Bank of Industry (BOI) and wanted the institution to scale up its support for MSMEs across the country.

He said the combined impact of power sector reforms, FX stability, and MSME financing would help unlock productivity, attract investment, and drive sustainable economic development in Nigeria.