The Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, restate that the federal government’s commitment to continue to subsidise electricity for Nigerians in order to guarantee stable and reliable supply.
Adelabu said this Friday in Abuja at the Ministerial Press Briefing Series organised by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation while giving explanations on the April 2024 Supplementary Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) released Wednesday.
He said the recent increase in tariff affected only a small percentage of the country’s population, adding that the majority of Nigerians would continue to enjoy government’s subsidies.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) had announced an increase in electricity tariff paid by Band A customers from N68/KWh to N225KWh.
He said Band A customers were those who enjoyed electricity supply for 20 hours per day.
“From the latest statistics, we have about 12 million customers in the sector and this (tariff increase) will only affect about 1.5 million customers.
“The remaining 10 .5 million customers will continue to enjoy government’s subsidies, which is almost 70 per cent of the population.
“This review is in conformity with our policy thrust of maintaining a subsidised pricing regime in the short run or in the short term with a transition plan to achieving a full cost reflective tariff for the sector over a period of three years,” he said.
He said before the tariff increase, the government was subsidising the cost of producing and transmitting electricity in the country by more than 50 per cent.
Adelabu said the government decided not to migrate to a cost- reflective tariff or remove subsidy 100 per cent because it was sensitive to the pains being experienced by Nigerians presently.
He said the removal of subsidies would be a journey rather than a destination, adding that it would be a gradual migration from the subsidy regime to a full cost-reflective tariff regime.
N2.9trn not sustainable
The government insisted that the payment of N2.9 trillion for electricity subsidies in 2024 “is no longer sustainable.”
Adelabu stressed that it would be insensitive to compel the government to keep paying the unsustainable subsidies.
