‘Only 1.5m out of 12m customers affected’ — Adelabu defends electricity tariff hike

Adebayo Adelabu, minister of power, says only 1.5 million customers — out of 12 million — are affected by the recent electricity tariff hike.

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved a tariff increase for Band A customers.

Customers on B and A are those who receive 20 to 24 hours of power supply in the country.

Speaking at a ministerial briefing in Abuja on Friday, the minister said the hike would address the issue of liquidity affecting the power sector, adding that power supply would still be subsidised for 85 percent of consumers.

Adelabu said the N2.9 trillion electricity subsidy in 2024 is too much of a burden for Nigeria.

“The recent tariff hike only affects 15 per cent of electricity customers. We have 12 million, but this tariff affected only 1.5 million customers,” he said.

“It is because the government is sensitive that 100 per cent of the subsidy will be removed. That is why we started with gradually removing the subsidy for the selected customers.”

Adelabu said the infrastructure deficit is a challenge in the country’s power sector, noting that transformers installed in the ’60s are still in use in some parts of Nigeria.

“All our gas pipelines are bad. There has been vandalisation of the gas pipelines; there will be a lack of adequate pressure on the gas pipelines where we need compressors and boosters,” he said.

“The generating companies’ plants are also deteriorating. They are obsolete. For the transmission companies, the lines were installed over 50 years ago, the cables are weak, the towers are falling and people are vandalising them. Transformers are also weak.

“I have seen a transformer that was labelled (Electricity Company of Nigeria) which means that it was installed in the ’60s; it has not been replaced.”

Adelabu said the deterioration of infrastructure is a major challenge in the government’s push to provide power for Nigerians.