- The non-implementation of a cost-reflective tariff hike caused a liquidity crisis in the sector.
- FG would investigate the legality of the five-year licence extension given to privatised power DisCos and Gencos.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu recently stopped the implementation of an electricity tariff hike and insisted on subsidy payments on power consumed nationwide. The minister, who made this known at a press briefing in Abuja, spoke on the call for a cost-reflective tariff, leading to a hike in the amount payable for power.
He added, “The power sector is an industry that is very sensitive to any leader. You cannot jump overnight and implement the cost-reflective tariff. I can tell you that till today, the government still subsidises power. The tariff should have been raised months back, but Mr President said that we can’t touch the tariff until we can achieve regular and incremental power supply. So, there is a gap between the expected cost-reflective tariff charge and the allowed tariff. The government is still handling that huge gap as a subsidy. This affects liquidity in the system and investments and causes so many constraints.”
According to him, the non-implementation was causing a liquidity crisis in the sector. He, however, stressed that Tinubu had refused to permit a raise in the electricity rate. Furthermore, Adelabu stated that the Federal Government would investigate the legality of the five-year licence extension given to privatised power distribution and generation companies, stressing that the operating licences of the firms would have expired on October 31, 2023. He said he would sack any non-performing chief executive in agencies under the power ministry if their non-performance would make him lose his job as minister.