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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has said electricity tariff will reduce if the foreign exchange (FX) rate drops below N1,000.
On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.
The regulator had said customers under this category receive over 20 hours of electricity supply daily, and will now pay N225 per kilowatt (kW) from April 3 — up from N66.
However, stakeholders had criticised the policy and described the increase as “ill-timed,” considering the harsh economic reality of Nigerians.
On April 5, Adelabu said the tariff hike only affects 1.5 million customers out of 12 million.
Speaking on Channels Television’s programme, ‘Politics Today‘ on Thursday, the minister said by cutting the inefficiencies of some operators in the sector, coupled with the gains by the naira against the dollar, the tariff paid by Nigerians should change positively.
“The tariff is flexible and I can tell you that even if naira gains more and the exchange rate comes down below N1,000, it must positively affect the tariff, and the tariff, even for the Band A, will come down below the N225 kilowatt per hour that we are currently charging.
“There are variable factors that go into the complication of the tariff and we are not closing our eyes to this.
“We are transparent. We are publishing it and we are talking to Nigerians, the consumers and all the power sector stakeholders.
“This administration is very serious and we are committed to transforming the sector,” he said.
Adelabu also said the government is working tirelessly to ramp up power generation from about 4,000 megawatts to 6,000 megawatts in the next six months for the first time in the country’s history.
He said 25 per cent of Nigeria’s power generation is from hydropower while the remaining 75 per cent is from gas plants.
On the Siemens project, the minister said the pilot phase is being concluded, which involves the importation of 10 power transformers and 10 mobile substations.
According to the minister, five of the transformers have been installed and commissioned at various locations across the country; while three of the mobile substations have been installed and are ready to be commissioned within the next two weeks.
Adelabu apologises over ‘keeping freezer on’ comment
Meanwhile, the minister has apologised over his comment criticising Nigerians who usually keep their freezers and air conditioners on when they are not at home.
He said the comment was not intended to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians.
Last Thursday, Adelabu had said Nigerians lacked the culture of power consumption management due to the affordability of electricity supply.
“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 five, six, eight 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,” he had said.
The comment did not go down well with many Nigerians who criticised the minister for his handling of power situation in the country.
Speaking on the comment, Adelabu said the statement was borne out of his passion for a change in the power sector.
He added that the remark was directed at customers in the Band A category, who are expected to enjoy 20 hours of electricity supply in a day.
“It was never intended to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians in any way. I never said people should switch off their freezers.
“It was actually innocent advice with regard to energy consumption management, which we believe will go a long way in reducing people’s energy bills.
“The example of the freezer, it might not have gone down well with the majority of Nigerians. I will say sorry about that. It was never my intention to insult anybody.
“It was out of my passion and eagerness to ensure that we make a change in the sector, which has suffered a lot of setbacks for some years.
“We said we need to cultivate the culture of energy consumption management. It was just a comical illustration,” the minister said.
