Electricity tariff not a burden on consumers, just a mere allocation of what they would normally spend on fuel and diesel – Minister of Power, Adelabu

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, stated that Nigerians know it is now cheaper to pay for stable electricity than to purchase fuel and diesel.

He explained that those on the Band A tariff have realized it’s more economical to stay on the grid rather than generate their own electricity using petrol and diesel. Speaking at a recent event in Lagos, the Minister noted that producing one kilowatt-hour of electricity privately could cost up to N750 due to high fuel prices, whereas those on the Band A tariff pay just N209 per kilowatt-hour. He also highlighted that in 2023, N1 trillion was generated in the power sector, while N16.5 trillion was spent on fuel and diesel for power generators.

“I need to correct an impression. There’s a section of the media that says this revenue is an additional burden on the consumers. No, it is not. It is just a mere reallocation of resources from what they used to spend on petrol and diesel. Now they are paying to enjoy a good power supply, he said

Today that we have a more stable supply than we used to have, a lot of people do not spend on fuel again, not on diesel, not on petrol. Now, we are charging N209 as a full cost-reflective tariff for Band A, but for you to generate a kilowatt hour of power using a petrol generator to pay, at this rate of N1,000 per litre, it is going to be about N750 for a kilowatt-hour; and for diesel, it remains about N915.

So, power sector consumers are like a beautiful bride that has now tried two matrimonies. If they want to be sincere, they know which of the husbands to remain with. So, we are adopting commercialisation in the sector to enable investors to have a line of sight to the return of their investments.”