The Federal government on Friday gave reasons for jerking electricity tariff nationwide, hinging that it could no longer afford to subsidise power to the tune of N2.93 trillion this year.
The Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, gave the information at a media briefing in Abuja, coordinated by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The Power minister pointed out that the increase in electricity tariff become imperative to enable the federal government to reduce its expenditure and plough the money into the improvement of power generation and supply in the country.
Adelabu said however that the recent increment of tariff only affected 15 percent of electricity consumers, who enjoy at least 20 hours of electricity while the remaining 85 percent of consumers outside Band A would continue to enjoy subsidised power supply.
According to the minister, the slight increase in tariff would consequently reduce government subsidy from about N2.93 trillion to N1.5 trillion and free the cash for other investments in the electricity sector to improve generation, transmission and distribution.
The minister explained that the administration of President Bola Tinubu was concerned about the suffering which Nigerians were going through and was therefore unwilling to remove all subsidy on electricity so as not to aggravate their plight.
“We cannot remove 100 subsidy because of the suffering of Nigerians. We cannot allow our people to suffer.
The rate is still cheaper than alternative sources power like diesel and solar,” Adelabu said.
The minister also disclosed that some projects had been carried out under the agreement Nigeria which Nigeria reached with Germany in 2018 to improve power supply in the country.
These include the installation of ten power transformers and three mobile stations, which were supplied by Siemens under the N2.3 billion deal between the two nations.
This comes as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on Friday fined the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, for wrongfully billing all consumers as Band A consumers immediately after the federal government announced the increase in tariff.
The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Musiliu Oseni, announced the sanction on AEDC while speaking at the press briefing attended by the ministers of Information and that of Power.
Dr. Oseni also ordered all other distribution companies nationwide to refund in full the excess money they charged customers on or before Thursday next week or be punished with stiff sanctions.
Oseni warned that going forward, electricity consumers must be promptly attended to by discos or they would be seriously penalised in accordance with relevant laws.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, had earlier explained that misconceptions and concerns around the tariff review are understandable and pleaded with Nigerians to show understanding and patience with the administration to take necessary steps to transform the power sector.
The minister said, “Let me reassure every Nigerian that this review is a strategic step toward a more sustainable, efficient, and equitable electricity sector. It lays the groundwork for significant improvements in service delivery, infrastructure development, and economic prosperity.
Our focus must therefore remain steadfast on ensuring that the electricity sector’s transformation benefits all Nigerians, supports our industries, and propels our nation towards its bright future.
“You would also recall that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill, 2024 into law to further strengthen the governance structure in the Power Sector and mandates the GENCOs to set aside five percent of their actual annual operating expenditure from the preceding year for the development of the host communities.
The Act also removed Electricity from the Exclusive list to empower state government to generate and distribute electricity to residents,” Idris said.
|Vanguard
