The administration of President Bola Tinubu has hinted at another increase in electricity tariffs across the country.
This revelation comes barely 48 hours after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariffs for customers under Band A.
Minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, has slammed Nigerians who indiscriminately leave their houses to go to work and other places with their refrigerators and air conditioners on.
Lamenting Nigerians’ culture of power consumption management due to its affordability in the country, the minister said, “A lot of people will come back from work, they want to have dinner, or they want to see their colleagues down the road, they switch on the AC for the room to be cooling before they come back.
“Some people will be going to work in the morning, a freezer that you left on for days, they will still leave it on when all the items in the freezer are frozen and 5, 6, 8 hours of their absence will not make it to defreeze, they will still leave it to be consuming power just because we are not paying enough.”
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, April 5, 2024.
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He stated that the recent hike in electricity tariffs is part of a pilot program aimed at phasing out electricity subsidies in the country. Adelabu emphasized that the government intends to eliminate all subsidies in the sector to encourage investment in the power sector.
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This tariff review aligns with our policy objective of maintaining a subsidized pricing regime in the short term, with a transition plan towards achieving a fully cost-reflective tariff over a period of approximately three years,” the minister explained.
I have mentioned in several media briefings that due to the government’s sensitivity to the hardships faced by our people, we will not immediately transition to a fully cost-reflective tariff or remove 100 percent of subsidies in the power sector, as was done in the oil and gas sector.
“We are not willing to further exacerbate the suffering of our citizens, which is why we have decided that the transition must be gradual, rather than abrupt. This journey starts now, with a gradual shift from the subsidy regime to a fully cost-reflective regime, beginning with selected customers.
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“This initiative serves as a pilot for us at the Ministry of Power and our agencies. It is a proof of concept that those with sufficient infrastructure to provide stable power and enjoy up to 20 hours of electricity should bear additional tariff costs.
Adelabu highlighted that Band A customers, who currently pay N225 per kilowatt-hour, pay significantly less than the N500 they would spend on alternative energy sources such as diesel.
“The government would have spent N2.9 trillion in subsidies for 2024 alone, which amounts to more than 10 percent of the national budget. It would be insensitive for us to burden the government with such subsidy payments, especially when there are other pressing issues that require funding,” he concluded.
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