The Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has called on Nigerians to expect an increase in electricity tariffs.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made this known while speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He said the recent increase in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for customers under the Band A classification, is a pilot in phasing out of electricity subsidy in the country.
Adelabu stated that the government plans to remove all subsidies in the power sector to allow investment to thrive, adding that the federal government was formerly subsidising 67 per cent of the cost of electricity.
The minister stated that Nigeria is experiencing a subsidy pricing regime where the government provides a large portion of the generation, transmission and distribution cost.
He said: “This tariff review is in conformity with our policy thrust of maintaining a subsidized pricing regime in the short run or the short term with a transition plan to achieve a full cost reflective tariff for over a period of, let us say three years.
“I have mentioned 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 remove subsidy 100 per cent in the power sector like it was done in oil and gas sector.
“We are not ready to aggravate the sufferings any longer which is why we said it must be a journey rather than a destination and the journey starts from now on, that we should do a gradual migration from the subsidy regime to a full cost reflective regime and we must start with some customers.
“This is more like a pilot for us at the Ministry of Power and our agencies. It is like a proof of concept that those that have the infrastructure sufficient enough to deliver stable power of enjoying 20 hours of light to be the ones to get tariff add.”
The minister added that the N225 kilowatt per hour Band A customers are charged as little relative to the N500 they pay for alternative energy like diesel and others.
He added: “The government would have paid N2.9tr for 2024. This is more than 10 percent of the national budget. It will be insensitive on our part to compel the government to pay such subsidy when we have other competing issues the government needs to fund under pau its of funds we have.”
