The Federal Government has urged Nigerians to anticipate a further rise in electricity prices.
Addressing an audience at a briefing in Abuja on Friday, Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, highlighted that the recent uptick in electricity tariff is a test phase towards eliminating electricity subsidies in the country.
He mentioned that the government intends to eliminate all subsidies in the industry to encourage increased investment in the power sector.
The Minister said, “This tariff review is in conformity with our policy thrust of maintaining a subsidised 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 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.
“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 government would have paid N2.9tr for 2024. This is more than 10 per cent 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.”
