Exclusive | AEDC office sealed over unremitted VAT charged on electricity consumers

Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Friday sealed off the headquarters of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) over tax defaults, including unpaid Value Added Tax (VAT), Pluboard has exclusively learned.

AEDC staff were stranded outside the company’s corporate office in Abuja’s Wuse district after enforcement officials from the FIRS arrived early Friday. The tax authority is believed to have acted after repeated demands for remittances reportedly failed.

The electricity distribution company also defaulted in remittance of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) deductions and Company Income Tax (CIT), Pluboard learned.

“The lock-up is in connection with non-remittance of taxes,” said a source familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because there was no authorisation to discuss the details with the media. “It includes VAT AEDC collects from electricity consumers, as well as employee PAYE and corporate income tax.”

VAT in Nigeria is currently 7.5%, and electricity consumers pay this upfront when purchasing power units. Distribution companies like AEDC are required to remit those taxes to the government.

Mutual Debt

The development is an example of a longstanding rift between electricity providers and government institutions. Last year, AEDC accused federal agencies, including the FIRS, of owing it over ₦47 billion in unpaid electricity bills.

AEDC had reportedly argued at the time that the FIRS should offset the tax dues from the amount it owned the electricity company, according to Daily Trust. It was unclear whether that issue was ever resolved.

FIRS did not respond to Pluboard’s request for comment, and AEDC has yet to issue a formal statement.

Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria have long grappled with poor liquidity, in part due to huge unpaid debts from ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). An April 2025 report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) showed that electricity consumers across the country owed Nigeria’s 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) N497 billion in 2024.