- Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) announced an increase in electricity tariff for Band A customers
- Customers lament over the high electricity tariff and low electricity supply, especially amongst other bands
- The company, represented by its spokesman, defended the hike in electricity tariff
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have defended the hike in electricity tariff, saying Band A customers in the country enjoy the lowest price in West Africa.
The spokesman of the country’s 11 electricity distribution companies under the umbrella of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, said on August 15, during Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Lunchtime Politics, “Even the band A customers who are currently paying the highest in Nigeria, they pay the lowest tariff in the whole of West Africa.”.
The ANED spokesman, who doubled down on his stance, said electricity consumers in neighbouring countries like the Benin Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana enjoy better output because they “pay for it.”
“That is why the people supplying it are able to recover their cost,” he said, arguing that the power sector needs funds to invest and improve electricity subsidy.
“That is why they are able to get enough capital to reinject into the system. So, it is very simple.
“The people in Band A pay more than others because they pay the true cost of electricity in Nigeria, which is talking about the cost of production—the landing cost of electricity – cost without subsidy; they are the ones paying without the government subsidizing them,” he said on the show.
He further stated, “All others, like Band B, are being subsidised by the government for as much as 67 per cent. So, what you pay is not what you are supposed to be paying.”
The hike in electricity tariffs made headlines earlier in the year when the government said it would stop subsidising power for some customers.
“And the journey starts now. That we should do a gradual migration from the subsidy regime to a full cost-reflective regime and we must start with some customers," said the Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu.
“Whatever consumers pay for, there must be commensurate value for it,” he said, a sentiment similar to that shared by the ANED spokesman.
Customers who enjoyed at least 20 hours of daily power supply were categorised into Band A users. While they initially paid N225/kwh, it was reviewed to be about N209.80/kwh.
While the move sparked a backlash from Nigerians, the Federal Government insisted that subsidy on electricity is unsustainable.
AfDB approves $500m loan to boost electricity access in Nigeria
Meanwhile, in an earlier report, TheRadar reported that the Board of African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a $500 million loan to Nigeria to finance the first phase of the Economic Governance and Energy Transition Support Programme (EGET-SP) in order to boost access to electricity.
The group declared that the loan will help bridge the gap in the 2024/2025 budget and also support the actualisation of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan and the new Electricity Act.