Prepare For Another Electricity Tariff Hike, FG Tells Nigerians
The federal government has announced that it plans to raise electricity tariff in the coming months, calling on Nigerians to prepare ahead.
However, the planned increases will have to be balanced by subsidies to less affluent electricity users, according to the report.
Bloomberg quoted Olu Verheijen, special advisor to President Bola Tinubu on energy, as saying at the African Heads of State Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, when Nigeria announced a $32 billion plan to expand electricity connections by 2030, He was quoted as saying.
According to the presidential aide, Nigeria is trying to solve the transition to a cost-effective but cost-reflective tariff structure in order to attract private investors.
“One of the key challenges we are trying to solve in the coming months is the transition to a tariff structure that is cost-effective and cost-reflective. That will protect the poor and vulnerable while generating the revenues needed to attract private capital.”
Last year, the federal government approved a threefold increase in electricity rates for Band A classification customers.
The move to raise rates comes amid mounting pressure from Nigeria’s debt-ridden electricity distribution companies to set rates that reflect their costs in order to improve their finances.
