The Nigerian government defends its decision to increase electricity tariff for Band A customers, stating that subsidizing almost 10% of the national budget on electricity alone is unsustainable. The decision has faced criticism from various groups, including the Northern Elders Forum and the House of Representatives Minority Caucus.
said yesterday that this week’s hike in electricity tariff for Band A customers was informed by the realization that spending almost 10 per cent of the nation’s national budget on subsiding electricity alone was unsustainable.Adelabu, with whom was Information and National Orientation Minister, Mohammed Idris, spoke at the Fourth Ministerial Briefing amidst criticism from various quarters on the tariff hike.
He said government refused to adopt 100% withdrawal of subsidy on electricity to avoid aggravation of the suffering of the generality of Nigerians. Throwing more light on the hike in electricity tariff, the minister said: “Two things and lessons we must achieve. Number one is achieving operational sustainability of operators on cost recovery. Anybody that goes into any business, the first intention is to recover cost, then if possible make some profit.
“We are in a subsidy pricing regime, whereby government provides a large portion of the cost of producing, of transmitting, and of distributing power. “So, it will be very insensitive on our part to compel government to continue to subsidise at that rate of almost N3 trillion for the power sector alone. We just have to be realistic and considerate.”
“I have mentioned it in a couple of media briefings that it is because of government sensitivity to the pains of our people that we will not make us migrate fully into a cost reflective tariff or to remove subsidy 100 per cent in the power sector like it was done in oil and gas sector. He said “testing of generation of power started yesterday and it will last for about one or two weeks.”Adelabu recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the Siemens project.The minister said “we have installed three out of 10 mobile substations.”
The forum, in a statement by its spokesman Abdul- Azeez Suleiman, said the action would only worsen the standard of living of the people. “The decision to implement these tariffs without considering the impact on the average citizen is not only callous but also short-sighted. The resulting consequences could potentially lead to internal security threats as the disparity between the haves and the have-nots becomes more pronounced.
“The NEF calls on the government to immediately reconsider this ill-conceived decision and take into account the dire economic situation faced by the majority of Nigerians.” The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives disputed claims that the hike affects only 15 per cent of consumers. “According to the global news agency, Reuters, ‘between the launch of the schemes in October 2022 and March 2023, nearly 21 billion pounds was spent on the Energy Price Guarantee programme that supports households with their bills, the government said.
“Though the NERC explains that the tariff increase only affected customers in Band A, those who enjoy a minimum of 20 hours a day of electricity, most customers in this category had never stopped complaining about deficient electricity supply, definitely not anything near the 20 hours a day of power supply as bandied by NERC,” he said.
Nigeria Electricity Tariff Subsidy Criticism Government Unsustainable Northern Elders Forum House Of Representatives Minority Caucus
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