The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu recently halted the implementation of an increase in energy tariffs and asked that subsidies be paid on power utilized countrywide.
Adelabu further said that the Federal Government would look into the validity of the five-year license extension granted to the corporations that privatized power generation and distribution, emphasizing that the companies’ operational licenses would have run out on October 31, 2023.
Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the minister went on to say that if the chief executives of any agency under the power ministry didn’t perform, he would fire them and he would also lose his position as minister.
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Speaking on the demand for a cost-reflective tariff that would raise the price of power, Adelabu stated, “Any leader would find the power sector to be extremely sensitive.”
“It is not possible to apply the cost-reflective tariff overnight. I can confirm that power subsidies are still provided by the government today. Tariffs ought to have been increased months ago, but Mr. President declared that we couldn’t raise them until we could establish a consistent and progressive supply of electricity.
Therefore, there is a discrepancy between the permitted tariff and the cost-reflective tariff that we are required to impose. The government continues to treat that enormous discrepancy as a subsidy. This has an impact on investments, system liquidity, and causes a great deal of limitations