A Ghanaian government delegation is holding emergency talks in Nigeria to avert a drastic gas supply cut that has been threatened, a government spokesman said, thus avoiding a potential political crisis, Voice of America reported.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said it will cut gas supply by 70% to Ghana’s main power generation company due to unpaid debts of $181m. Ghana already suffers power shortages and Nigerian gas meets about 25% of its needs.

The issue is sensitive for President John Mahama’s government ahead of elections next year that are expected to be closely fought.

The ruling party already faces an economy that has slowed sharply and power cuts that have angered voters, according to Reuters.

The West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCo) said it was “cautiously optimistic” that Nigeria’s N-Gaz consortium would accept a payment plan by Ghana’s power generation company, the Volta River Authority (VRA), after talks in Accra.