Electricity supply to the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa was briefly cut off earlier this week after the diplomatic mission failed to settle outstanding utility charges, prompting swift action under a local debt-recovery initiative.
The City of Tshwane Executive Mayor, Nasiphi Moya, confirmed on Monday that power to the Nigerian mission in Pretoria had been disconnected as part of the municipality’s #TshwaneYaTima campaign, a drive aimed at enforcing payment of overdue municipal bills, including electricity and water, by individuals and institutions alike.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Moya stated:
“We’ve disconnected electricity at the High Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They owe the city for utility services.”
The move — unusual for a foreign diplomatic mission — underscored the city’s insistence that no customer is immune from meeting financial obligations, regardless of status.
However, within hours of the disconnection, authorities announced that the Nigerian High Commission had cleared the outstanding debt, leading to the reconnection of electricity to the mission’s offices. “We thank the High Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for honouring its debt to the city. The city will reconnect electricity,” Mayor Moya added in a follow-up update.
The prompt settlement brought an end to a brief blackout that drew significant attention across both Nigerian and South African media, stirring discussions on diplomatic financial management and bilateral relations.
This is not the first occasion Nigerian diplomatic missions have faced utility-related disconnections in South Africa. Previous incidents include a 2023 outage at the Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg after a substantial debt went unpaid, and a similar power cut affecting the High Commission in September 2025.
Back in Abuja, officials from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained irregular payment issues in Pretoria as partly linked to delays in passing the 2026 national budget, which affected funding for overseas missions and timely settlement of service bills.
The temporary disconnection sparked reactions from Nigerians at home and in the diaspora, with some critics saying the matter dented the nation’s diplomatic image, while others pointed to the challenges of funding and administrative coordination facing foreign missions.
City of Tshwane officials have indicated that the #TshwaneYaTima campaign will continue to target all unpaid accounts to stabilize municipal finances, signaling that enforcement actions may affect even high-profile institutions in future.
As of this report, the Nigerian High Commission had not issued a detailed official statement on the circumstances of the unpaid bills or the payment arrangements, though normal operations have resumed with restored electricity.
