The Federal Government is set to review electricity tariffs to address pricing differences among customers and attract more investment into the power sector.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, announced this on Thursday in Abuja during the public presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan.
Adelabu noted that the current tariff system is unbalanced, particularly in the way customers in different bands are charged. Under the existing structure, Band B customers, who receive about 17 to 18 hours of electricity daily, pay N63 per kilowatt-hour, while Band A customers, who get just two more hours of supply, are charged N209 per kilowatt-hour.
He described this pricing gap as unfair and stated that the government is looking into a restructuring to ensure a more balanced system. However, he clarified that this does not necessarily mean an immediate tariff increase.
“We will look at the tariff again. I am not saying that we’re going to increase the tariff before I am misquoted,” Adelabu said. “We are going to look at it and see how we can improve upon our modest achievement of last year, not only to ensure that we grow the sector that we need but also to ensure that we can invest more in revamping all these dilapidated infrastructures.”
The minister also noted that the slow pace of migration from lower bands to Band A is due to the reluctance of electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to invest in the necessary infrastructure. He stressed that significant investment is required to accelerate this process and ensure a stable power supply across all customer categories.
“The migration to Band A should have been faster, but we found out that the DisCos refuse to invest. They have refused to invest in this sector. A lot of investment is required for us to achieve an accelerated migration of lower-band customers into Band A. It is taking a lot of time,” he said.
To address these issues, the government is working on a plan that would restructure the tariff system across Bands A, B, and C. Adelabu noted that the wide pricing gap between Band A and the lower bands is unjust and needs to be adjusted.
“The gap between the Band A tariffs and Bands B, C, D, and E is just too wide,” he said. “We believe it’s not fair. It is not just, and we must be able to carry out some level of regularisation.”
